Woman dead,man missing in Sardinia storm

(ANSA) - Cagliari, October 11 - 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.