Floods in Italy kill at least 10; rescues from roofs, trees
- ‘It was a tsunami’, the mayor of Barbara said of the sudden downpour on Thursday evening that devastated his town in the Marche region, near the Adriatic Sea
- Children, including a boy swept out of his mother’s arms and a girl trying to escape the floodwaters, were among people still unaccounted for on Friday morning
Floodwaters triggered by heavy rainfall swept through several towns in a hilly region of central Italy early on Friday, leaving 10 people dead and at least four missing, authorities said. Dozens of survivors scrambled onto rooftops or up trees to await rescue.
“It wasn’t a water bomb, it was a tsunami,” Riccardo Pasqualini, the mayor of Barbara, told Italian state radio of the sudden downpour on Thursday evening that devastated his town in the Marche region, near the Adriatic Sea.
He said the flooding left the 1,300 residents of Barbara without drinking water and with unreliable telephone service. A mother and her young daughter were missing after trying to escape the floodwaters, the mayor told the Italian news agency ANSA.
While firefighters reported at least seven confirmed deaths and three people missing, RAI state television quoted the local prefect’s office as saying there were 10 confirmed deaths. Two children, including a boy swept out of his mother’s arms in Barbara were among four people still unaccounted for as of late Friday morning.
Some 50 people were treated at hospitals for injuries.
Many of the 300 firefighters on rescue operations waded through waist-high water in flooded streets, while others operated rubber dinghies to scoop up survivors along their path.