Violent storms provoked
powerful flash floods in coast areas of the southern region of
Calabria on Wednesday.
In the town of Rossano, near Cosenza, roads and homes were
flooded and the waters swept away cars and dumped them piled up
together on the seafront.
Many people are unable to leave their homes because of the
floods and people staying at a campsite in the area have been
evacuated.
Police in Rossano rescued 40 people, including many
children, who were trapped in a hotel.
Streets were also flooded in the province of Catanzaro,
where sewers overflowed and fire-fighters had to rescue several
motorists trapped in their cars.
In Catanzaro itself, the storm broke an aqueduct,
spreading water and stone onto some streets.
Some districts were cut off due to the floods and a
provincial highway was blocked at Corigliano Calabro.
Rail traffic on the Sibari-Crotone line was shut down too
because of the weather.
Firefighters from Lazio and Calabria were sent to help
their Calabrian colleagues to cope with the emergency.
The police said there were no reports of injuries or
missing people.
Two people were killed in separate incidents linked to
extreme weather in Italy earlier this week.
"It's a situation of extreme emergency in the whole
area," said the mayor of Corigliano Calabro, Giuseppe Geraci.
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