In recent days, the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy has received as much rain as normally falls in six months. More than 200 landslides have been recorded and local authorities have issued new warnings as rain continues to fall.
14 people have died, several of whom are reported to have drowned in their homes, and many people are missing.
– Many have been trapped in their homes and not been able to get out because there is very high water outside, says SVT's correspondent Jennifer Wegerup.
Evacuated by raft
Swede Adrian Boschetto says that he and his family were stuck in an apartment building in the city of Faenza. On the street outside, the water rose rapidly, 3.5 meters in a couple of hours.
"People were thinking about throwing themselves out and swimming ashore, or wherever they could, you couldn't see where the water ended," Boschetto said.
The family and other residents of the house finally managed to get out via a raft. A passer-by in a canoe then helped, one by one, to help them ashore.
Agriculture is being destroyed
Italy has been severely exposed by extreme weather in recent years. In autumn 2022, the town of Marche was hit by severe flooding in which 14 people died and in July 2022, a state of emergency was declared in five Italian regions as the Po River was hit by severe drought. Just like the current floods, the drought hit farms hard, with major economic consequences as a result, explains Jennifer Wegerup.
"The government here is working long-term with a plan for how to deal with what appear to be new weather patterns," she says.
Earlier this year, the Italian government set up a far-reaching emergency commission to work on, among other things, water supply and extreme events. Now Jennifer Wegerup believes that the government's preventive work will be intensified.
"What has happened now is clearly not to blame on the government, but it is clear that much more needs to be done," she says.