Much of Italy remained in the
grip of snow, ice, rain and freezing temperatures on Tuesday as
the wave of bad weather continued to cause disruption,
especially in the north.
Around 1,000 people in the town of Lentigione, in the
northern province of Reggio Emilia, were being evacuated on
Tuesday after the River Enza burst its banks amid a wave of
rain, snow, freezing temperatures and gales.
Flood waters invaded both local residential and industrial
areas.
A helicopter was being used as part of the evacuation effort.
The Italian rail network company said some of the connections
that were suspended on Monday had been reactivated, but warned
passengers to keep up to date on its notifications, as the
situation is still problematic.
In Liguria the Entella, Vara and Magra rivers are being
closely watched for fears they could break their banks.
The Serchio river in the province of Lucca has done just
that.
There is acqua alta (high water) in Venice too, with St
Mark's Square among the areas affected.
About 12,000 people in the Piacenza area between Val Trebbia,
Val Luretta, and Val Nure have been without power since Monday
due to the bad weather over the weekend.
In the Lugagnano Val d'Arda municipality there are no
telephone services either and local and provincial roads have
mostly been closed.
Schools were closed on Tuesday due to weather conditions in
Ottone, Ferriere, Farini, Bettola, Ponte dell'Olio and Morfasso.
The regional civil defense has announced a red alert over
high water conditions in the Piacenza and Parma areas.
Over the night, the Boschi dam let out water at a speed of
934 cubic meters per second.
Criticism has been voiced over the lack of preparation in the
country for several weather conditions.
On the issue of the various rail connections that were
suspended on Sunday and Monday due to the bad weather, Genoa
chief prosecutor Francesco Cozzi said that "what happened to
Thello train passengers - and in general, to other passengers –
is a serious matter. The railways should have prepared for this
before".
He added that an assessment would be made to see whether any
crimes had been committed in relation to the issue after an
Italian consumers association filed a number of complaints.
Senator Anna Maria Bernini, from the center-right Forza
Italia party, said in relation to the power outages in the
Apennines near Bologna that "the government continues to ignore
the problem, not dealing with the urgent demands from citizens
who pay bills and taxes and who, by living in those areas, help
to keep the mountains alive".
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