The region Veneto is facing a severe wave of storms which has put many areas of the region in crisis. In the last few hours, intense rainfall caused serious damage and flooding, particularly affecting the provinces of Vicenza and Padua. On Thursday 16 May the Veneto Civil Protection declared a state of alarm “red” due to hydrogeological criticality. In particular, in Cologna Veneta (Verona), the breaking of an embankment of the Guà river it caused flooding in the countryside and on farms. In Vicenza, the Bacchiglione river caused floods that damaged the Malfermoni school, while an embankment collapsed along the provincial road between Mirano and Mira (Venice). The president of the region Luca Zaia declared a state of emergency.
Photos of Milan flooded by the Lambro river
What happened
In the early hours of Friday 17 May, the Muson dei Sassi river flooded in Camposampiero (Padua), precisely in the Rustega area, due to the failure of an embankment. The fire brigade teams, with the help of river rescuers from Padua, Vicenza, Belluno and Venice, intervened to evacuate homes that have remained isolated. The use of an amphibious vehicle from the Verona command and the intervention of personnel and pumping equipment from Emilia-Romagna was necessary.
There The situation is also critical in Castelfranco Veneto (Treviso), where the Avenale and Muson streams flooded, causing extensive flooding. One hundred millimeters of rain fell here in an hour, and the mayor Stefano Marcon announced the closure of all schools for Saturday 18 May. In other parts of Veneto, landslides have been recorded which obstruct traffic in the foothills of Treviso and Belluno. The flooding hit the residential areas of the municipalities of Asolo and Castelfranco Veneto, and further flooding was reported in the municipalities of Quarto d’Altino, Altivole, Casier, Fonte and Mogliano Veneto.
Northern Italy affected
The weather forecast indicates that new scattered rain and thunderstorms are possible in the next few hours, especially in the central-eastern mountain and foothill areas. The transit of flood peaks is expected in the plain and mouth sections of the Piave, Livenza, Brenta and Bacchiglione rivers. Bad weather has Lombardy and Friuli Venezia Giulia were also hit hard. In Milan, an amount of rain never recorded in the last one hundred and seventy years fell, with serious flooding and one man missing in the Como area. In Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Pordenone area has suffered extensive flooding, while Lower Romagna is worried about the levels of the Po river, which continue to rise.
