The severe weather that started with overnight showers is not going to let up: Northwest Italy and neighbouring France are caught up in a disaster that has disrupted the daily routine of millions of people, Italian media reported on Friday.
Hundreds of fire brigades have been mobilised in Rome and in Turin access to the Murazzi, a famous promenade on the Po river, has been closed. Winds of up to 60 kilometres per hour and heavy rains have paralysed transport and forced authorities to take emergency measures in several regions.
The situation is particularly dire in Piedmont, where more than a hundred municipalities have been placed on red alert. In the area of Biella, trains have been stopped, the railway station is closed, and the transport company Trenitalia is hastily organising reserve bus routes for evacuated passengers. Water in the Po River and its tributaries has risen to dangerous levels, and roads and bridges are strewn with fallen trees.
Roads were also affected by the weather, with the Turin-Aosta motorway closed due to the overflow of the Dora Baltea river and Itp closing key sections of the motorway between the Scarmagno and Ivrea junctions. In Milan, wind and rain felled trees and fences, disrupting morning traffic. One incident – a tree falling on a lorry in the Pagano district – left no casualties, but authorities declared a yellow alert and urged residents to avoid parks and construction sites.
Effects of severe weather in France
France has not been spared: a snowstorm is raging in Savoie, causing the closure of the strategic Fréjus tunnel linking Italy and France. Car traffic is at a standstill in Bardonecchia and international rail services are again interrupted, just a month after they were restored following last year’s landslide.
In Valle d’Aosta, more than 500 millimetres of rain fell in a matter of hours. Rockfalls, landslides and flooding forced authorities to evacuate dozens of residents in Issogne and Fontenmore.
While water levels in the main rivers remain below critical levels, the region is living in anticipation of new vagaries of nature. Emergency responders continue to deal with the aftermath, but local authorities say the elements are not going to let up yet.
