Severe Floods Return to Emilia-Romagna: Storm Boris Forces Mass Evacuations and Leaves Two Missing
Two people are missing and 1,000 have been evacuated as Storm Boris triggers heavy flooding and landslides in northern Italy. The Emilia-Romagna region, still recovering from deadly floods last year, has been hit hardest. Ravenna’s mayor, Michele De Pascale, described the situation as a “full emergency,” drawing parallels to the devastation in May 2023 that killed 17 people.
The storm’s powerful winds and torrential rains have swept across central and eastern Europe, leaving 24 dead in countries like Austria, Poland, and Romania. On Wednesday, Emilia-Romagna and the Marche region were submerged, with towns like Faenza severely affected. In Faenza, one resident lamented, “There’s one and a half metres of water in my house, again, after I’d just finished refurbishing it.”
Deputy Transport Minister Galeazzo Bignami confirmed that two people went missing after the roof they had taken refuge on collapsed.
Schools have been closed, and trains suspended as local authorities respond. However, Emilia-Romagna’s acting president, Irene Priolo, reassured the public, noting that while the current situation is serious, it may not reach the scale of last year’s disaster, which saw 45,000 people evacuated.
Experts warn that climate change is driving the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like the ones brought by Storm Boris.
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