Snow, rain and high winds hit
road and rail links in Italy with the centre and north most
affected Monday.
Train traffic was disrupted in Piedmont because of snow and
rain, while there was a risk of avalanches in Trentino, 150km
winds near La Spezia, and ferry links suspended to and from many
islands.
Rivers were also being watched for the risk of breaking their
banks.
One river, the Entella, did break its banks near Chiavari in
Liguria because of the high levels of its tributaries, local
sources said.
"The situation is more critical in Liguria and Piedmont,"
said rail network company RFI.
In the northern Piedmont city of Alessandria and the
surrounding area, schools were ordered closed because of ice and
snow.
Near the Ligurian seaside resort of Sanremo, several families
were evacuated because of the risk of an avalanche or a
mudslide.
In the Ligurian valley of Val D'Aveto, gales measuring 165
km/h swept down tree branches.
A car that skidded off the road and into a stream in the
Apennine foothills near Bologna was recovered by divers late
Monday afternoon.
No one was hurt.
In Veneto to the northeast, many mountain passes were closed
because of the risk of avalanches.
In Val d'Aosta to the far northwest, Christmas markets were
closed Monday and will reopen Tuesday.
Road advice agency Viabilitia Italia said they were warning
drivers not to embark on trips into Switzerland.
In Tuscany, a "prolonged" red alert over ice and snow was
issued.
Most flights out of Florence Airport were cancelled because
of high winds.
In Marche, strong winds and icy gales blew trees and branches
onto roads but no one was hurt.
In Rome, trees and branches also fell down and the fire
brigade was called in to make 130 interventions.
In Trieste, in far northeastern Italy, a wall collapsed,
crushing cars, but no one was hurt.
There was flooding and damage to electrical power networks in
southern Campania and near Isernia.
"The situation is complicated, patience is needed," said
Transport Minister Graziano Delrio.
Delrio spoke of the risk of ice forming on rail transport
wires and lines, stopping traffic.
"New technologies always improve the performance of the lines
and the tracks," he said.
"Therefore, it is clear that with new technologies and more
investments they are making in in modernisation, it will be
increasingly easy to tackle this problem," said the transport
minister.
"The investments of (rail network company) RFI in the last
three years amount o around 30 billion euros which we have at
our disposal.
"Over the previous three years they were six billion, and
this shows the effort they are making to modernise the network,
a very important effort," said Delrio.
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