Rainstorms wreak fresh havoc in flood-battered northern Italy

Torrential rains have again drenched northern Italy, causing deadly floods and landslides. In one region alone, the damage exceeds €1 billion (HK$9.7 billion).

In Sesto Calende, a small town near Lake Maggiore and the Swiss border, the central square resembled a giant pond, a handful of sandbags doing a poor job of preventing the water from soaking the ground floors of houses and businesses.

"It is a nationwide problem caused by decades of neglect and poor governance," said one resident, Mauro, with a resigned shrug.

Twelve people have died in weather-related accidents in northern Italy since mid-October. Among three killed at the weekend were a pensioner and his granddaughter who were buried alive when a landslide hit their house on the shores of Maggiore in the early hours of Sunday morning, the third tragedy of its type in less than a week.

Claudio Burlando, the president of the Liguria region, which includes the entire Italian Riviera, said the damage incurred on his patch alone in the last month now exceeded €1 billion.

Apart from the clean-up costs, millions of euros worth of crops have been destroyed and many fields rendered unsuitable for grazing or planting, while motorways and other infrastructure, including a Genoa cemetery where zinc coffins were washed away at the weekend, will have to be repaired at public expense.