Footage shows the devastation of Italian floods: Entire towns are submerged beneath water and roads are swept away
The ‘apocalyptic‘ floods wreaking havoc across northern Italy have left entire towns submerged under water and seen roads swept away in dramatic landslides as locals struggle to come to terms with the carnage.
New footage shows the extent of the devastation of the deadly floods that have killed at least nine people in the popular holiday region of Emilia-Romagna, with streets turned into fast-moving rivers.
Video shows houses and cars submerged beneath water in dozens of historic towns including in Luga, Ravenna, and Cesara, as rescuers desperately try and reach families trapped within their homes.
Desperate families – including young children and the elderly – were forced to clamber on to their roofs in the tourist hotspot as they waited anxiously to be rescued in helicopters.
A video shows one desperate pregnant woman being rescued from her home by firefighters in a helicopter as the water rises around the building. The rescuers carefully lowered a basket down to the woman’s home where she was helped by a firefighter before being lifted into the helicopter.
At least nine people have been killed in the region – including a 60-year-old woman whose body was dragged 12 miles down a river – and there are fears the death toll will rise further as several people are missing amid the carnage.
The body of a 60-year-old woman, whose husband, 70, also died in the extreme weather, was found on the beach near Cesenatico after her body had been dragged 12 miles down a river. Two bodies were recovered by divers yesterday in Forli after the Montone River burst its banks.
The town’s mayor said the floods are the ‘worst situation’ the town has ever experienced. The devastating floods have swept cars away and video shows an entire road in Emilia-Romagna being swept away in a devastating landslide. The floods have seen thousands of Italians evacuated from their now destroyed homes – and the flooding shows no sign of abating.
Authorities in the city of Ravenna issued an immediate evacuation order today for three villages threatened by floods. Buses were being sent to help residents leave Villanova di Ravenna, Filetto and Roncalceci after the river Lamone burst its banks.
Nearly two dozen rivers and streams have flooded across the southeast of the Emilia Romagna region following downpours earlier this week, submerging entire neighborhoods and farmland. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and hundreds of landslides were reported, regional officials said.
