Rome, May 18 (BLAZETRENDS).- The red alert due to bad weather due to torrential rains, which have caused severe flooding, continues in the Emilia Romagna region, in northeastern Italy, where at least 9 deaths and more have been counted. of 20,000 evacuees, as well as enormous destruction that has affected electrical and telephone lines and viability in the area.
After the serious floods this Wednesday in the provinces of Forlí, Ravenna, Cesena, Ravenna, which have left entire towns under water, there are fears for the next few hours, since the level of almost all the rivers continues to be above the threshold of emergency.
The president of Emilia Romagna estimates the damage after the floods in billions
The floods have caused damage “for several billion euros,” said the president of this northeastern Italian region, Stefano Bonaccini, who calculated that six months of rain has fallen in 36 hours.
“The 30 million assigned by the Government are welcome and I appreciate that they make them available immediately, but here we are talking about billions of euros in damages only due to the tragedy of May 2 and 3, when the four-month-old water fell in 36 hours, while yesterday and the day before yesterday six months of water did it in 36 hours,” he explained on Italian public television RAI.
According to Bonaccini, “when it rains in two weeks like almost a year there is little to do. A phenomenon of this magnitude had never been seen in our country.”
The red alert is maintained throughout the region
In the next few hours, heavy rainfall is not expected, while it is expected during the weekend, which keeps the entire region on red alert.
During the night, new floods were registered in the Ravenna area and the evacuations of the inhabitants continued in towns such as Castel Bolognese, Villanova di Ravenna, Filetto and Roncalceci, due to the risk of flooding caused by the overflow of the Lamone river.
Although circulation has been resumed in the sections cut this Wednesday on the A14 motorway, which runs along the Adriatic coast of Italy, today there were also problems due to a landslide that affected the A1 motorway in the section between northern Sasso Marconi.
Aid from the Italian Government
The president of the Emilia Romagna region, Stefano Bonaccini, explained this Wednesday that a lot of financial help will be needed to get this area back on its feet, especially agriculture.
The Italian Government announced that it will allocate another 20 million, which will add to the 10 million already approved a couple of weeks ago when the region suffered another flood, for the first emergencies, as well as suspend tax obligations and mortgages for a while .
“It has been like a new earthquake on the eve of the catastrophic event in Emilia Romagna in 2012, whose anniversary is about to be fulfilled. Some forty municipalities have been flooded, structures destroyed, railways interrupted, provincial highways practically demolished and a bridge has collapsed”, Bonaccini described.
The Government will hold a council of ministers next Tuesday to address the situation and in which a state of catastrophe will be declared to approve all aid, the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, said today in a radio interview.
The floods have left nearly 50,000 users without electricity, while another 100,000 have problems with their mobile phones and another 10,000 with fixed lines.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix that was to be held this weekend in Ímola has also been cancelled.