bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The death toll from floods that have devastated northeastern Italy rose to 13 on Thursday, according to media reports, driving thousands from their homes and destroying crops in an area known as the country’s orchard.
Rescuers have been searching for anyone trapped by floodwaters in the Emilia Romagna region.
Authorities have not confirmed the latest rise from the 11 deaths previously announced.
Among the victims were two farmers in their 70s who may have been electrocuted while trying to move a fridge inside a flooded house, Italian media reported.

With 10,000 people already displaced, authorities in Ravenna issued an immediate evacuation order early Thursday morning for three more villages threatened by floods.
“There is a hole in the dyke, so if it were to start raining again … we fear that the water could rise again, this is our biggest fear,” said Andrea Ancherani, a resident of Bagnara di Romagna near Imola.
Locals waded through dirty water or reclaimed what they could from sodden houses in towns across the wealthy region, famed for its historic cities and prized gastronomy.
Authorities said electricity had been partly restored, but some 27,000 people were still in the dark.
Thousands still missing in Congo after floods, says official
Nearly two dozen rivers and streams flooded across the southeast of the low-lying region following heavy rain earlier this week, submerging entire neighbourhoods and farmland and damaging 400 roads.
Agricultural lobby Coldiretti said on Thursday that more than 5,000 farms were under water, with drowned animals and tens of thousands of hectares of vineyards, fruit trees, vegetables and grain flooded.
As the water receded in some areas, residents were left cleaning homes and streets thick with mud and filled with debris.
In Lugo, near Ravenna, Flavio Abbondanti, 39, was waiting for the water that had inundated his home to subside so he could get to work. “We used what we could find from a work site to make a little barrier, but [the water] still came in,” he said.

The mayor of Ravenna, Michele De Pascale, announced on Thursday that residents of about a half-dozen towns could return, but warned them “to exercise the utmost caution”.
Cracks in river embankments still posed a risk to other areas, which were being closely monitored, he said.
The dead included a couple in Ronta di Cesena believed to have been hit by a wall of water as they went to check on their herb farm.
The body of the woman, in her 60s, was pulled 20km (12.5 miles) by rushing waters to the beach in Cesenatico, according to SkyTG24.
Deadly Cyclone Mocha thrashes Myanmar, Bangladesh – at least 3 dead
There was little significant rainfall on Thursday and only light rain expected on Friday, though authorities said the high level alert for rivers remained.
Two people died in the same region earlier this month after two days of almost continuous rain.
“We had an estimated €2 billion (US$2.2 billion) of damages two weeks ago … the ground no longer absorbs anything,” Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia Romagna region, told La7 television channel late Wednesday.
“When we have six months of rain in 36 hours, falling where there had already been record rain two weeks ago, there is no territory that can hold out.”

Experts warn such disasters are becoming the norm due to human-induced climate change which is exacerbating both droughts and storms.
On Thursday Bonaccini compared the floods to the earthquake that hit the region on May 20, 2012, almost 11 years ago to the day. Fixing the damage would be “a gigantic undertaking”, he said, and the region launched a fundraising effort.
Ferrari, the luxury carmaker whose Maranello base is not far from the flooded areas, pledged €1 million euros (US$1.1 million).
The flooding caused the cancellation of Sunday’s Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.
Record-breaking flood in Australia’s Queensland predicted to peak
Italy’s armed forces and the coastguard joined the rescue effort, deploying helicopters to lift desperate residents from their homes and inflatable boats to reach houses surrounded by water.
Pope Francis offered his prayers for those affected and thanked everyone on the ground helping those hit by the “shocking disaster”.
Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said on Wednesday that the government could not yet quantify the overall damage to the region while vast areas were still flooded.


8 skiers found dead and 1 still missing after California avalanche

‘Absolutely terrifying’ New Zealand storm leaves 30,000 homes without power

Landslides displace thousands in Indonesia’s Central Java

Fatal floods strike Spain and Portugal, thousands evacuating

Natural disasters

13 dead in Italy floods as thousands wait to come home

A cyclist rides through a flooded street in the Italian village of Castel Bolognese, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

People are rescued in Faenza, Italy on Thursday. Photo: AP

Farmers gather pigs to transport them away from their flooded enclosure at a farm in the town of Lugo on Thursday. Photo: AFP

People displaced by the flood in Emilia-Romagna region take refuge at a shelter in Lugo on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Canada’s province of Alberta faces more wildfires amid hot, dry weather

The Bald Mountain Wildfire burns in the Grande Prairie Forest Area in Alberta, Canada on Friday,. Photo: Government of Alberta Fire Service / Canadian Press via AP

Burned land is seen following fires in Shining Bank, Alberta, Canada on Thursday. Photo: AFP

A train stops by a burnt area in Yellowhead County, Alberta, Canada on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

8 killed by rare, giant tornado near Myanmar capital – at least 128 injured

Tornado near Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw. HANDOUT PHOTO

Firefighting goats protect a forest from deadly blazes in Chile

A goat of the “Buena Cabra” (Good Goat) project, an initiative that relies on goats to control dry pastures and other vegetation that fuel forest fires in Santa Juana, Chile. Photo: Reuters

The goats that saved the native forest of the Bosques de Chacay, preventing the park from being consumed by fires. Photo: Reuters

A firefighting goat at the “Buena Cabra” (Good Goat) project in Chile. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Europe

Nearly two dozen rivers and streams in the area have flooded after heavy rain, submerging entire neighbourhoods and farmland and damaging 400 roads


Nearly two dozen rivers and streams in the area have flooded after heavy rain, submerging entire neighbourhoods and farmland and damaging 400 roads.


13 dead in Italy floods as thousands wait to come home

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Nearly two dozen rivers and streams in the area have flooded after heavy rain, submerging entire neighbourhoods and farmland and damaging 400 roads

Nearly two dozen rivers and streams in the area have flooded after heavy rain, submerging entire neighbourhoods and farmland and damaging 400 roads