(see related stories) The number of victims of the extreme bad weather in Tuscany on Thursday has risen to six after rescuers found the body of a man initially reported missing.
Earlier three people were reported dead - two in Montemurlo near Prato and one in Rossignano near Livorno - after heavy rainfall and strong winds brought by Storm Ciaran battered large parts of the central-northern region.
Tuscany Governor Eugenio Giani then said the death toll had risen to five.
In a statement Palazzo Chigi expressed the condolences of Premier Giorgia Meloni for the victims and said she was "following with apprehension the evolution of the calamitous events that have hit Tuscany in particular".
Meloni "is in constant contact with (Civil Protection) Minister Nello Musumeci, with the head of Civil Protection department Fabrizio Curcio, with Regional Governor Eugenio Giani and with the competent authorities" in relation to the situation, the statement added.
On Friday morning Giani said that over 1,000 interventions had been carried out so far in Campi Bisenzio, Cerreto Guidi, Carmignano, Prato, Montemurlo, Quarrata, and the provinces of Pisa and Livorno, the areas worst hit by the extreme weather.
Electricity company Enel was working to restore services to 40,000 consumers left without power, including through the deployment of generators, he added.
The governor also said problems related to flooding at hospitals in Pontedera, Borgo San Lorenzo and Prato were being resolved.
Meanwhile Prato Mayor Matteo Biffoni, who earlier described the damage caused by the extreme weather as "a punch in the stomach", said "155 mm of rain has fallen in just a few hours, something that as far as we know has not happened for at least two centuries".
For his part, Giani said he had spoken to meloni and that "measures are being taken to bring the state of national emergency (for Tuscany, ed.) before the cabinet meeting that is due to start at 11am".
"This is the consequence of the state of emergency I declared yesterday," he added.
During the night "we were in contact with the government authorities, we had cooperation" said the governor.
"Right now we are all working together, with the civil protection at regional level and with the aid coming from" the national civil protection authorities "in order to support the affected population," concluded Giani.
Meanwhile the River Arno, which runs through Tuscany, was said to have peaked in Florence without incident and was expected to peak in Pisa near the mouth later on Friday.
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