At least nine people have lost their lives in the unprecedented wave of bad weather that is affecting Northern Italy and specifically, the Emilia Romagna region, while there is still no clear picture on whether there are any missing people.

Among the victims were an elderly man and a couple who owned a company active in the agricultural sector, according to Corriere della Sera. The body of a German woman was also found on a beach in Cesenatico, a town along the Adriatic coast.

The heavy rains have caused unprecedented flooding and landslides with a total of 21 rivers overflowing and landslides in the entire region reaching 250. A total of 35 municipalities have been flooded including Emilia Romagna and Bologna while 48 municipalities have recorded landslides. An additional 50,000 people are still without power.

According to Italy’s Minister of Civil Protection and Maritime Policy, Nello Musumeci, the rainfall was so heavy that in 36 hours as many cubic meters of water fell as in half a year. According to meteorologists, in some areas up to 500 millimeters of rain fell in just 36 hours.

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“It is very difficult to find the right words to describe so many disasters. But the important thing is that the rescue crews continue their work without interruption”emphasized Massimo Isola, the mayor of Faenza, a city in the province of Ravenna in Emilia-Romagna.

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In their attempt to save themselves from their flooded streets and houses, several people sought refuge on the roofs of their houses. Rescue crews are making superhuman efforts to extricate people from houses and basements with water. More than 1,100 volunteers, more than 600 firefighters, police forces and the Red Cross are participating in the rescue operations.

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The municipality of Ravenna, in view of the overflow of the Cer, ordered the evacuation of 21 houses in via Pasna and via Acquara Superiore in Bastia. “It was probably the worst night in the history of Romania,” Ravenna’s mayor, Michele de Pascale, told Italy’s RAI public broadcaster. “Ravenna is unrecognizable from the damage it has sustained.”

The mayor of nearby Forli, Gian Luca Zattini, said his city was “on its knees, broken and in pain”, the AFP news agency reported.

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Italy’s civil protection agency said on Wednesday that worse could follow. “The rainfall is not over, it will continue for several hours,” the head of the agency, Titti Postiglione, told SkyTG24 news. “We’re dealing with a very, very complicated situation.”

In fact, in some areas the rainfall is so intense that it was not possible to measure the amount of water that fell, because it exceeded what the instruments could register.

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And tomorrow schools in most regions of Emilia Romagna are set to remain closed, while Meloni’s government, which has already allocated ten million euros, is expected to deal with devastating floods and the approval of new financial aid after the Italian prime minister returns from the summit G7 summit in Japan.

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