The civil protection department put
parts of Veneto on red alert for extreme weather on Wednesday as
a wave of torrential rain and powerful winds continued to batter
much of Italy.
Other parts of Veneto and of Emilia-Romagna are on orange alert,
the second-highest level, due to the weather front, which has
also brought heavy snowfall to areas at altitude.
Services on the Milan-Venice railway between Vicenza and Padua
remained suspended on Wednesday after being halted on Tuesday
due to the risk of floods and mudslides.
Schools in Vicenza are closed on Wednesday as a precaution.
There have been landslides in Liguria, including one that cut
off connections to around 1,000 people in the village of Pieve
Ligure on the outskirts of Genoa on Tuesday.
The heavy rainfall has lifted the level of many rivers, with
some dangerously close to breaking their banks.
The River Arno is among those that are being monitored closely.
But Turscan officials said that water levesl were falling in
regional rivers and the Arno flood tide was not "causing
critical issues".
However, in neighbouring Emilia-Romagna an orange alert remained
in place due to the spread into the valleys of the river swells
in and around Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna.
A so-called 'water bomb' hit the town of Castelvetrano near
Trapani in Sicily flooding streets, underpasses and basements
and leading to the closure of schools.
The northern city of Vicenza has been spared the worst effects
of the current floods due to the presence of retention basins,
Veneto Governor Luca Zaia said.
"We are experiencing a meteorological event with a strong impact
due to its characteristics, and which should be catalogued in
the history of the Veneto region as a major flooding event, but
Vicenza has been saved by the lamination basins," said Zaia
after recent heavy rainfall left several parts of the city under
water.
"We have removed three million cubic metres of water from
Vicenza. It is all water that we stop before it reaches the
basements of houses. This is the way to protect the country," he
added, referring to retention basis built to mitigate flooding
along the main waterways.
"We need another billion euro to complete the works. Let's say
we are testing them not with simulations, but with real water. I
am pleased. It is an answer to those who say the works should
not be done," he continued.
"Veneto is presenting itself as a national model: if it rains in
the wrong place we end up under water, but where we have
intervened (with mitigation measures, ed.) we are in the game.
We must invest in a Marshall Plan to finance hydraulic works. It
is not true that we must accept what nature brings us, if we
have damaged the territory with building, at least we can lower
the risk level with hydraulic works," concluded Zaia.
The governor also said the recent rainfall figures were
comparable to Storm Vaia in 2018, and to the so-called great
flood of 2010.
"Had the works not been in place we would be facing another
disaster," he continued.
During Storm Vaia 187 millimetres fell in the area in 24 hours,
compared to 188 millimetres on Tuesday.
One of the areas worst hit by the flooding is the neighbourhood
around the Romeo Menti stadium, where the playing field is
however reported to be unaffected.
Flooding has also led to the closure of the city ring road and
other thoroughfares and caused extensive disruptions to local
and intercity rail services.
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