Italy floods claim at least 13 lives, thousands flee

Rescue crews are desperately working to reach towns in northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. This after floods devastated the area. The death toll has risen 13, with thousands of people forced to flee their homes.

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Torrential rains tore through the eastern side of the region, known as Romagna. It resulted in as many as 280 landslides and some 400 roads have been destroyed. The rains have also caused over 20 rivers to overflow, flooding 42 municipalities.

Emilia-Romagna’s President Stefano Bonaccini told the media that they “are facing a new earthquake,” referring to the tremors that hit the region in 2012. But Bonaccini says all repairs were complete before the floods hit.

That experience showed us that it can be done, and we will rebuild everything (again), I am sure of that

Bruce Springsteen Italy Concert

Bruce Springsteen received criticism for going ahead with his concert in Ferrara on Thursday evening. Some considered the move inconsiderate of the damages inflicted on the northern Emilia-Romagna region.

Fans of The Boss urged him on social media to reconsider. They said it would be out of respect for the many homeless and dead following the floods: which caused river banks to break, and landslides.

Ferrara is one of Emilia-Romagna’s main cities. It was, however, not directly affected by the floods. Its mayor, Alan Fabbri, came to Springsteen’s defence and the decision not to cancel the show. As many as 50,000 people were to attend the concert:

I am sorry if anyone may have thought that Ferrara was insensitive to the tragedy in Romagna just because it did not cancel the concert of The Boss

Residents forced to flee

Rescue teams have been assisting residents to flee their homes. Local media report that a 97-year-old woman left her bedroom in a rubber dinghy.

Rescuers take residents across a flooded street // Andreas Solaro/AFP

Antonio Francesco Rizzuto is a 55-year-old lawyer who lives by the river with his wife. The couple fled leave their home this week. They have found shelter with their daughter in a nearby village. He told the BBC, that the severity of the floods were unexpected:

Before we left our house, the water level was getting higher by the minute. When we got back yesterday… our living room was completely submerged. We will have to throw away most of our furniture

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called a crisis meeting next Tuesday.