ROME (AP) — A wave of violent storms and torrential rain battered northern Italy on Thursday, raising fears for the life of a man swept away on a tractor in the Piedmont region.
Images from state television RAI showed the wheel of the vehicle still visible in the Orco creek, near Turin, where the tractor overturned in muddy water. The search for the missing man, 58, was still ongoing on Thursday afternoon, local rescuers said.
Two bridges have collapsed in Val di Susa in Piedmont, leaving around 50 people isolated in two villages after another river burst its banks and blocked a provincial road.
Two other northern regions, Lombardy and Veneto, were hit by widespread flooding that caused damage and disruption in the city of Milan, where the local rivers Seveso and Lambro burst their banks.
Firefighters in Milan said they were called out dozens of times to rescue people trapped in their cars in flooded tunnels and to pump out water-filled basements.
Some metro services had to be suspended due to the flooding. For the first time since its creation in 1976, Milan’s Radio Popolare station went off the air because its broadcasting centre was flooded.
Scientists warn that the climate crisis is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts, downpours and floods, in Europe and the rest of the world. Storms are becoming more intense because warm air can hold more moisture.
Southern Italy has recently been suffering from severe drought, causing major problems for local agriculture and tourism, especially on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
