A fresh bout of bad weather hit
Tuscany in the night between Thursday and Friday, causing floods
and landslides, in particular in the southern area of Maremma
and on the Elba island, which was peltered by a violent storm.
Firefighters on Friday morning worked to assist and rescue,
including with amphibious vehicles, several people who had
remained isolated in Orbetello near Grosseto after the overnight
storms.
Due to severe flooding, many roads remained closed in southern
Maremma and the homes of local residents could not be reached
with regular vehicles.
Hundreds of hectares of cropland remained under water on Friday,
in particular in the areas of Albinia, Orbetello and Capalbio
where canals overflowed their banks due to the intense rain.
Several homes and warehouses in the area were also flooded.
Overnight, rescue services had worked in particular in Elba's
town of Portoferraio and in the coastal seaside resort of
Orbetello, near Grosseto, where a woman was rescued from a car
trapped in floodwater.
Orbetello Mayor Chiara Piccini and the local civil protection
official Roberto Berardi oversaw operations, which also affected
the nearby areas of Albinia, Marsiliana and Parrina.
The municipal council meanwhile on Friday earmarked 80,000 euros
for emergency interventions after the violent hailstorm that hit
Orbetello and the popular resorts of Ansedonia and Capalbio.
Local rescue services said that in less than four hours last
night a reported 133 millimetres of rain - for a total of over
210 mm in 24 hours - hit the area of Maremma, already severely
affected by intense rain over the past day.
Meanwhile, Antonio Sanò, founder of the weather site
www.iLMeteo.it, forecast the arrival of a "small but violent
Cyclone" over the next 48 hours with strong winds, rain and snow
at an altitude of 500-600 metres, affecting in particular
north-eastern and central Italy.
"Initially, the cyclone will hit the North-East with
intensifying bora winds, rain and local storms while rain will
continue to fall on most of the Tyrrhenian area", said Sanò.
"In the afternoon, cold polar air associated with the cyclone
will cause the snow to fall at an altitude of up to 200-300
metres" including in Emilia-Romagna, eastern Tuscany, Umbria and
northern Marche", he said.
The weather is set to improve next week, according to the
forecaster.
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