“Historic” floods, overflowing rivers, landslides, houses partially or completely submerged, streets completely flooded, residents rescued by helicopters. The images reveal the chaos and destruction left by Storm Boris in northern Italy, where it arrived on Thursday, after passing through Central and Eastern Europe: it has already left one dead, two missing and a thousand displaced.
In recent days, Boris has hit cities in Central and Eastern Europe, causing 24 deaths: seven in Poland, seven in Romania, five in the Czech Republic and five more in Austria. It destroyed bridges, sank cars and caused damage that cost families billions of euros. So much so that the President of the European Commission visited a flooded area in Poland and announced a budget of 10 billion euros to help the most affected European countries. And on Friday, Brussels announced that several Member States have mobilised to send aid to the Czech Republic and Poland.
Storm Boris has arrived in Italy – The Guardian
The Emilia-Romagna region in the north of the country has begun evacuating people due to flooding. pic.twitter.com/iy84O3R5wK
— NEXT (@nexta_tv) September 19, 2024
In Italy, the storm caused the closure of several services, as well as schools and rail connections. Authorities advised people to protect themselves at home and avoid unnecessary travel. Businesses were also advised to operate remotely. Four provinces and cities, including Lugo, have issued evacuation orders for single-storey homes.
Images of the force of waterthat sweep away everything in their path and scenes of flooded towns and cities.
In Italy, disastrous flooding is occurring between Piedmont and the Aosta Valley due to storms. Noasca has received 149mm of rain and Cogne 91mm (in this video). The most critical situations are in the valleys of Orco, Soana and Lanzo.
Through: @Kurosh_74pic.twitter.com/nGsAj1COWG
— Volcaholic ???? (@volcaholic1) June 29, 2024
Unfortunately, there were severe floods in northern Italy yesterday. I wish safety to all my Italian friends. pic.twitter.com/QE1JfU3Q1B
— savio b (@sabio69) September 19, 2024
Drone footage speaks for itself: beautiful villages in Emilia-Romagna, Italy ????????? are flooded after the devastating passage of Cyclone Boris, which continues to cause damage across Europepic.twitter.com/492oZbqoTL
— Mambo Italiano (@mamboitaliano__) September 19, 2024
Already in May 2023, torrential rains hit these areas of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, causing losses worth 8.5 billion dollars (7.6 billion). Now, in addition to the damage caused, the storm caused the disappearance of two people in Traversara di Bagnacavallo, a town in the province of Ravenna, after the Lamone river flooded the area.
#LOOK : : More images Emergency crews are searching for two people missing amid flash floods in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, while thousands more were evacuated when rivers burst their banks and inundated several towns on Thursday.
#BorisStorm #Italy… pic.twitter.com/32FRHIjQZs-upuknews (@upuknews1) September 20, 2024
According to The Guardian, firefighters have already carried out more than 500 rescue operations and had to use helicopters because people were trapped inside houses and sinking. Concern is growing. The impacts are spreading to neighbouring regions such as Tuscany and Marche. The mayor of Ravenna, Michele De Pascale, explained to Radio 24: “We are in a state of total emergency… the event is very similar to the one we had last May.”
the new one #climate Either you’re celebrating or you’re hungry for rain. #Italy is now feeling the effects of enormous #floods After a summer of heat waves and drought, living on a rooftop can’t be comfortable. #inundations #flood #floods #Italy #EmiliaRomagnaFloods pic.twitter.com/XNSedryM3G
—Peter Dynes (@PGDynes) September 19, 2024
Residents cannot believe what is happening. “It is unthinkable that after 365 days, a catastrophe like this could happen again. It is a constant disaster. It has been raining for 36 hours and it is a catastrophe,” one resident told the BBC. “I was told that where we have apricot trees, there is three metres of water above… Imagine. Three metres of water,” another resident reported, noting that people were climbing onto the roofs of buildings to escape the water.
A few hours of extremely heavy rainfall caused flooding, landslides and disasters in north-west Italy, between Piedmont and the Aosta Valley.
This is Noasca, where this waterfall destroyed roads and bridges.pic.twitter.com/W6xuYQ1eEr
– Maximus (@Rainmaker1973) July 1, 2024
Central and Eastern Europe is not out of the woods yet and is bracing for devastating floods. Wroclaw, Poland, is expecting major flooding from the Oder River. The Polish government, under the leadership of Donald Tusk, He mobilized 16,000 soldiers to reinforce the defenses around the city..
Although Wroclaw’s defences appear to be holding out, caution is needed at this stage. The Polish Prime Minister stressed the importance of monitoring rising river levels “as accurately as possible”.
And in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that the Danube will peak in Budapest on Saturday, despite expectations for water levels below the 2013 record.
Source: Observadora
