The Muson dei Sassi river in Veneto burst its banks during the evening of Thursday/Friday morning. Veneto and Lombardy have been particularly hard hit by extreme weather in the past days.
Several homes were cut off on Friday after the Muson dei Sassi River burst through the embankment in the province of Padua town of Camposampiero. This is causing widespread flooding, as a wave of torrential rain that has hit northern Italy this week continues.
Fire-brigade teams rushed to the towns to evacuate people from the isolated homes, with the help of an amphibious vehicle and pumping equipment.
The extreme weather has hit Veneto and Lombardy especially hard, with Milan getting its heaviest rainfall in 170 years. Earlier this week, the rivers Lambro and Seveso burst their banks in Lombardy.
A 66-year-old man is missing-feared-dead after falling into the Serenza River at Cantù, near Como, on Thursday when a bridge collapsed amid violent rain and water flows.
Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves, drought, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and more intense.
A series of recent disasters triggered by extreme weather have shown Italy’s exposure to hydrogeological risk including flooding, mudslides and landslides.
