2023-05-23 15:01:17
After severe storms and flooding, the Federal Foreign Office issued a travel warning for Italy on Thursday.
Rome/Berlin – Some politicians in Italy are talking regarding a storm “apocalypse”. The violent storms and rainfall have caused chaos in the southern European country. Now the Foreign Office has also reacted.
Since Thursday, May 18, Annalena Baerbock’s ministry has been expressly warning German vacationers and travelers on its website regarding the consequences of “extreme weather, flooding and the risk of landslides” in Italy. Literally it says: “Due to persistent, sometimes heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms, restrictions are to be expected throughout Italy”.
Severe weather in Italy: the Federal Foreign Office issues travel advice
Particular caution applies in the two regions of Emilia-Romagna and Sicily. The Emilia-Romagna region around the capital Bologna has been hit hardest by the floods so far. Accordingly, the Foreign Office says: “In the interior of the country there is a risk of flooding and landslides”. Along the entire coast in central and southern Italy, warnings are also given of “storm surges”. “Many roads are impassable and there are restrictions on regional rail traffic,” says the ministry.
Over ten thousand residents in the affected areas of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy have been evacuated and around a hundred serious landslides have been reported. The Formula 1 race planned for Sunday in Imola has been cancelled.
Heavy floods in Italy – chaos following storms
In the region, 23 rivers burst their banks between Tuesday and Wednesday, 36 towns and communities were flooded, and 48 local governments reported landslides. Two more bodies were found in the Ravenna area of central Italy on Thursday, authorities and police said on Thursday. According to media reports, it is said to be a peasant couple in their 70s who were found dead in their flooded apartment. The total number of fatalities from the floods rose to eleven.
Many residents in the Emilia-Romagna region had to climb to higher floors or onto the roof of their houses. According to the region’s vice-president, Irene Priolo, “more than 10,000 people” were evacuated. On Thursday, Ravenna authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of the three villages of Villanova di Ravenna, Filetto and Roncalceci following the Lamone River burst its banks. According to the civil protection authority, 50,000 residents of the disaster region were without electricity on Wednesday. (rjs/dpa)
Transparency note: An earlier version said that the Federal Foreign Office had issued a travel warning. That’s not the case. It is a travel advice intended to draw attention to the special situation on site.
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