At least 10 people have died in Italy as flash floods hit the country and a mud tsunami swallowed several victims alive.
After torrents had swept through several towns leaving a trail of trapped and damaged cars, residents were seen clearing mud from the streets in videos shared on social media.
According to the country’s civil protection agency, around 400 millimetres (15.75 inches) of rain fell within two to three hours.
The mayor of Serra Sant’Abbondio Ludovico Caverni told RAI state radio that it was like an earthquake.
While party chiefs campaigning for Italy’s September 25 election expressed their solidarity, the head of the national civil protection agency Fabrizio Curcio met local authorities in Marche’s capital city of Ancona to assess the damage.
Blaming climate change for the torrential overnight rains, the Italian Society of Environmental Geology (SIGEA) said “It is an irreversible phenomenon, a taste of what our future will be.”
Local media showed rescuers on rafts trying to evacuate people in the seaside town of Senigallia and reported that approximately 300 firefighters are currently operating in the central Italian region of Marche.
Calling the downpour was far stronger than had been forecast, the head of civil protection at Marche’s regional government Stefano Aguzzi said “We were given a normal alert for rain, but nobody had expected anything like this.”
Allowing local activists to participate in efforts to help the flood-hit communities, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party Enrico Letta said he would suspend campaigning in Marche “in a sign of mourning”.
(With inputs from agencies)
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