Two people are missing and 1,000 others have been evacuated after Cyclone Boris swept through northern and central Italy. The storm caused severe damage and flooding in many municipalities across the country, including in the Emilia-Romagna region north of Florence.
According to data from the Italian meteorological agencies, Cyclone Boris left 250 mm of water per square meter in just 24 hours. The most affected areas are the town of Modigliana, hit by landslides, where yesterday afternoon “the river suddenly exploded”, according to Jader Dardi, mayor of the town. Also some areas of the province of Bologna, whose rivers are still overflowing.
In the northern towns of Faenza, Castel Bolognese and Cotignola, water has flooded some neighbourhoods. In the municipality of Traversata di Bagnacavallo, the Lamone River broke through the flood barrier and reached the village, causing several houses to collapse. Some people were rescued from rooftops by helicopter and others by inflatable boats, and searches are still underway for several missing people who, according to a witness, fell into the water when their building collapsed, according to Italian media. These areas of Italy have already suffered major flooding in May 2023.
Although the situation is improving, concerns remain about flooding in several rivers – the Savena in Bologna and the Tramazzo in Modigliana – and authorities are working to lower water levels in many other municipalities.
During the night it stopped raining in the northern region, but the red weather alert remains active for this Friday throughout Emilia-Romagna and schools will remain closed in the Ravenna area, while in Forlì-Cesena there will be “closures in the most affected areas”, as announced by the regional president, Irene Priolo. “In some areas it has rained three times more in half the time, but the emergency is not over, now the rivers must reach the sea, the problems of landslides persist”, said the head of Civil Protection, Fabio Ciciliano.
Meanwhile, the mayors of the affected areas denounce that the aid they requested more than a year ago, during the floods of May 2023, has never arrived. “Did we do prevention after the flood a year ago? No, because we have not received a single cent from the direction of the commissioner for the consolidation of landslides and roads,” said the mayor of the city of Brisighella, Massimiliano Pederzol, referring to Francesco Figliuolo, the flood manager that the Italian government appointed after the floods of 2023. “We have been waiting for six months for the order of the commissioner, who should have granted us 3 million for an intervention in this area,” also criticizes the mayor of Faenza, Massimo Isola.