Italy floods: At least eight dead and several missing after ‘water bomb’ hits Marche region

Local authorities said they did not expect downpour that was ‘like an earthquake’

Rescue workers help people in a dinghy on a flooded street after heavy rains hit the seaside town of Senigallia (via Reuters)

At least eight people have been killed and several others are missing after heavy rains and floods hit the central Italian region of Marche on Thursday.

Local authorities said they did not expect such a sudden “water bomb”, as around 400 millimetres of rain fell within three hours, inundating the streets of several towns in the Ancona and Pesaro-Urbino provinces.

“It was like an earthquake,” Ludovico Caverni, the mayor of the town of Serra Sant’Abbondio, told RAI radio.

Footage released by fire brigades showed rescuers on rafts trying to evacuate people in the seaside town of Senigallia, while others attempted to clear an underpass of debris.

Stefano Aguzzi, head of civil protection at Marche’s regional government, said the downpour was far stronger than had been forecast.

“We were given a normal alert for rain, but nobody had expected anything like this,” he told reporters.

Footage released by fire brigades showed operators navigating the streets of seaside town Senigallia on rafters to rescue people and evacuate them, while others attempted to clear an underpass of debris.

Rescue services were still searching for survivors, authorities were quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the leader of Italy‘s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) Enrico Letta wrote on Twitter that it would stop its campaign in the region ahead of the 25 September national election.

He said: “Let’s stop our election campaign in #Marche. As a sign of mourning and participation in the pain of the affected families and to give [to] our volunteers all the necessary help with respect to the terrible damage of #alluvione.”

More than 180 firefighters are currently working at the scene as people in the area sought refuge on the roofs of houses, reports Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.

Alessandro Piccini, the mayor of Cantiano, a town in the region, said on Facebook: “A water bomb is falling on Cantiano. Different rivers are flowing. Water has invaded the main streets of the country. Several areas are already submerged.

“Communal viability is interrupted in several parts. The state direction of Gubbio is closed. We invite the citizens to keep calm and avoid risky situations.”

It is the latest severe weather event to have impacted the country this summer.

The European state suffered its worst drought in 70 years after months of dwindling water levels that left the country’s longest river, the Po, visibly depleted.

Additional reporting by Reuters