Not less than 10 individuals are dead and 4 are missing, including two children, from floodwaters triggered by heavy rainfall in central Italy early Friday, authorities said.
The country’s national fire service, Vigili del Fuoco, said nearly 200 firefighters were at work rescuing dozens of individuals through the night who took refuge on the roofs of homes and trees.
The agency posted videos to Twitter showing responders within the town of Senigallia, within the eastern Marche region, carrying out operations. One other 400 interventions were carried out within the provinces of Ancona and Pesaro-Urbino.
Greater than 15 inches of rain fell in central Italy because the Misa River, which flows through Senigallia, peaked early Friday morning, the local municipality said on Facebook.
Climatologist Massimiliano Fazzini told Italian state TV that the concentration of rain over 4 hours, including a heavy 15-minute period, was probably the most in a whole bunch of years, the Associated Press reported.
“It was an extreme event, greater than an exceptional one,″ he said.
Two children, including a boy swept out of his mother’s arms in Barbara, were amongst 4 people still unaccounted for as of late Friday morning, in accordance with the AP.
“It wasn’t a water bomb, it was a tsunami,” Riccardo Pasqualini, the mayor of Barbara within the Marche region, told Italian state radio.
Locally of Serra de’ Conti, firefighters also sifted among the many mud and fallen trees within the seek for missing individuals.
Senigallia Mayor Massimo Olivetti closed multiple city offices and schools within the town. Residents were also advised not to make use of tap water until all checks have been carried out to permit protected consumption.
Italy’s Department of Civil Protection issued an orange alert Thursday for parts of central and southern Italy, including the Campania and Lazio regions. The alert remained in effect Friday as rain and robust winds were expected to proceed throughout the day.
