At least ten people were killed in violent weather that struck on the night of Thursday September 15 to Friday September 16 the Marches, a region in central Italy, on the edge of the Adriatic; which puts climate change at the heart of the political debate one week before the legislative elections.
Four other people were missing after torrents of rain devastated streets and homes. According to Corriere della Seraabout 400 mm of rain fell Thursday evening in two hours on the Marches, the equivalent of six months of precipitation for this region.
Among the four people missing is an 8-year-old child who was with his mother in the car. The latter was saved by firefighters, but the force of the current carried her child away, according to the Time.news news agency.
In Ancona, a large port on the Adriatic, several neighborhoods were left without electricity and telephone. Schools have been closed in the most affected areas. Firefighter video shot in Senigallia, a port town in the Marche region, shows rescuers in deserted streets, waist deep in water, searching for people while rowing a dinghy .
The water also invaded the cellars, and many cars were carried away by the force of the current or buried under mudslides. Falling trees and landslides have cut off many local roads, making it difficult for rescuers to work.
“Dozens of people who had taken refuge on trees and the roofs of houses were rescued”the firefighters announced on Twitter on Friday, reporting a record of “more than 150 interventions”. The mayors of the localities affected by these violent storms deplored the absence of warning from the competent authorities.
“It’s called ‘climate crisis’, not ‘bad weather'”
The entire political class has expressed its support for the Marche region and its population, even if other neighboring regions have also been affected but more lightly, without deploring any victims.
Matteo Salvini, leader of the Sovereignty League, and Enrico Letta, leader of the Democratic Party (PD, center left), were among the first to express their solidarity, followed by Giorgia Meloni, leader of the post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia (FDI ).
The president of the region, Francesco Acquaroli, member of FDI, for his part announced that he had received phone calls of solidarity from the president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the head of government, Mario Draghi.
“I mourn the victims of the tragedy that befell the Marches. Italy and Europe must take climate change seriously”wrote on Twitter the European Commissioner for the Economy, the Italian Paolo Gentiloni.
“It’s called climate crisis, not bad weather”reacted for its part on Twitter the Italian branch of Fridays for Future”, the youth movement for the climate, while the president of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca, said to himself “concerned by the increase in extreme climatic phenomena”.
Like its European neighbours, Italy is affected by climate change. The Po plain, the largest river in the country, experienced its worst drought in seventy years this summer. And on July 11, 11 people were killed when a section of the Marmolada glacier collapsed in the Italian Alps.