Schools, museums reopen in Emilia Romagna's Cesena

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 22 - Schools, museums and libraries reopening in Cesena - one of the towns worst hit by the extreme weather that claimed 14 lives in Emilia Romagna last week - as a hiatus in the rainfall and the gradual receding of the floodwaters allowed a return to normality for some.
    However the situation remained critical in many places, and on Monday 879 firefighters, including 696 reinforcements, were still engaged in rescue operations: 244 in the province of Forli and 326 in the province of Ravenna.
    To date, firefighters have carried out 4,963 interventions since the start of the emergency: 1,148 in the province of Bologna, 2,089 in Ravenna, 1,362 in Forlì Cesena and 364 in Rimini.
    In Forlì 26 people had to be evacuated from a residential building on Sunday night after a sinkhole opened up as a result of the flooding.
    Meanwhile the regional chapter of farmers' association Coldiretti launched a fundraiser to support farmers and agrifood businesses affected by the flooding and landslide emergency.
    "The fields are still under water, landslides have devastated the territory, and thousands of companies have suffered very serious damage, when they have not disappeared altogether," said regional Coldiretti president Nicola Bertinelli.
    "In all this, so many of our members and their families still fear for their safety," he added. (ANSA).