Over 300,000 people in Abruzzo,
or about one-fourth of the central region's population, are
without power due to the freezing temperatures and snow gripping
Italy, Mario Mazzocca, the regional undersecretary in charge of
civil protection, said Tuesday.
Most of Teramo was without power Tuesday and many schools in
the city, as well as in other Abruzzo cities including Chieti,
Sulmona and Pescara, were closed.
The Abruzzo region on Tuesday started procedures to ask for a
state of emergency to be declared with blizzards scheduled at
least until Wednesday.
Other Italian regions struck by devastating earthquakes last
year were also badly affected by the extraordinary wave of bad
weather that has caused disruption across the country.
Local authorities in the Marche and Umbria regions rocked by
earthquakes last October were concerned that damaged buildings
could fall under the weight of the snow.
A number of areas in the regions were also without power.
Strong gale winds have also swept northern Italy, including
the north-eastern city of Trieste, where the wind reached 141
kmh, and Genoa, where 300 people were temporarily forced to flee
their homes early on Tuesday due to a fire on the hills around
the port city.
Three schools were also closed in the nearby Val Varenna due
to the fire.
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