A woman is dead after the car
she was travelling in was hit by flood waters overnight, while a
shepherd is missing, as storms and torrential rain battered
Sardinia.
The woman, her husband and three children got out of the car
when it was blocked by the water, having fled from their home
near a river they feared was set to burst its banks at Assemini,
in the province of Cagliari, according to an initial
reconstruction.
The man and the three children were found by Carabinieri
police and taken to hospital but the dead body of the mother,
45-year-old Tamara Maccario, was recovered later, Civil
Protection Department sources said Thursday.
Firefighters and civil protection officers are trying to find
a shepherd who has gone missing amid extreme weather in the area
of Castiadas, sources said.
A bridge collapsed on the island on Wednesday amid the
torrential rain and another, between San Vito and Muravera, has
been closed due to rising river levels.
In the town of Uta, 57 people were evacuated from their
homes.
Authorities have announced a state of pre-alert, meanwhile,
over the Cixerri dam in southern Sardinia.
The bridge collapse and a big sink hole led to roads being
closed, effectively cutting the island in two for a spell.
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