ALBAWABA At least nine people were killed in Italy’s northern Emilia Romagna region as heavy rain flooded rivers and submerged entire neighborhoods and farms on Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of this weekend’s.
WATCH: Drone footage of the flood hit city Cesena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italypic.twitter.com/lUIvvAOS30
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 17, 2023
According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera the number of victims and missing persons is rising rapidly, and it is difficult for rescuers to reach the affected areas.
#UPDATE Five people have died after heavy rains caused flooding across Italy's northern Emilia Romagna region, a local official said Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/MlyHwv0w9a
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The region's Civil Protection Agency issued a red weather alert for the region on Monday.
“We are facing catastrophic events that we may not have seen before,” Stefano Bonaccini, head of the Emilia-Romagna region, told reporters. “Extraordinary amounts of rain fell on a land that could no longer absorb it.”
The port city of Ravenna on the Adriatic Sea, famous for its early Christian heritage sites, was hit hard. A representative of the local Ministry of Interior said that about 14,000 people would have to be evacuated from the area as soon as possible.
