Italy – Hundreds Evacuated as Rivers Reach Record Levels in North

The River Enza in the town of own of Lentigione, Italy, burst its banks on Tuesday 12 December, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate.

Severe weather including snow, rain and freezing temperatures has affected much of Italy since Monday 11 December. Schools have been closed and road, rail and air travel all adversely affected. Several flights from Turin-Caselle Airport were delayed as a result of the cold temperatures.

Heavy rain has affected the north eastern regions of Emilia-Romagna, Liguria and Tuscany in particular.

Emilia-Romagna

In Lentigione houses have been flooded by the overflowing Enza river. Fire fighters have used a helicopters and boats to evacuate around 400 people. Hundreds of others are also thought to have evacuated and regional officials say the total stands at around 1,000.

Some evacuations were also carried out in Boretto province and fire fighters in boats rescued three people from the town of Colorno when the Parma river flooded.

Relief centres have been set up for those displaced and the entire civil protection system has been mobilized in response to the flooding.

Rivers at Record Levels

According to local officials, the Enza in the valley of Sorbolo in Parma Province reached a level of 12.44 metres on 12 December, higher than the previous record high of 11.63 set in February 2016.

The Secchia river reached a height of 10.55 meters at Ponte Alto, exceeding the previous high of 10.28 set in December 2009.

Regional Councilor for Civil Protection Paola Gazzolo said “We are in the presence of floods of historical significance, never recorded in the past, with regards to the Secchia in Modena, the Enza, and the Parma and Lorno rivers in Parma.”

Liguria and Tuscany

In Liguria Region, levels of the Entella, Vara and Magra rivers are extremely high and threatening to break their banks.

In Tuscany the Serchio river overflowed in Lucca. No evacuations have been reported but the Civil Protection Agency is monitoring the situation.

At least six people died after heavy rainstorms and flooding in the city of Livorno, Tuscany, in September this year after a storm dumped over twice the monthly rainfall in just 2 hours.

Social Media

#Maltempo, esondazione fiume Enza a Lentigione (RE): in corso da stamattina evacuazioni al momento senza particolari criticità. In azione 4 elicotteri #dragovf. Immagini complete su https://t.co/hh5VasGt97 pic.twitter.com/kX09wYZbl4

— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) December 12, 2017

#Maltempo #Brescello (RE) #12dic, #dragovf 51 in perlustrazione sulle zone interessate dall’esondazione del fiume Enza pic.twitter.com/QLuI4MhrGV

— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) December 12, 2017

#Maltempo #Colorno (PR), #vigilidelfuoco recuperano tre persone e un cane da un’abitazione invasa dalle acque a seguito dell’esondazione del fiume Parma pic.twitter.com/BGqTq6x6O6

— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) December 12, 2017

#Maltempo: Protezione civile a #Parma, #ReggioEmilia e #Modena
Riunioni operative a Marzaglia (Mo), Brescello (Re) e Colorno (Pr). Interventi per ripristino viabilità nelle zone appenniniche https://t.co/mUnGa1w0pG pic.twitter.com/vGK6XOhRcI

— RegioneEmiliaRomagna (@RegioneER) December 12, 2017

#Maltempo loc. Lentigione (RE) #12dic, uno dei recuperi effettuati dal #dragovf 52. Al momento si registrano oltre 50 salvataggi da parte degli elicotteri dei #vigilidelfuoco #salvataggiquotidiani pic.twitter.com/9GITlFCiHS

— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) December 12, 2017

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