The death toll from the fierce storms battering Italy has risen to eight, civil protection authorities said Tuesday, as heavy rains caused flooding. In addition to the five people confirmed dead on Monday, authorities reported another three deaths in the north of the country, including a woman killed when her home was engulfed by a mudslide and rocks, AFP reported. Six regions were on red alert on Monday due to a wave of storms, torrential rain and gales. The regions included Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Trentino-Alto Adige and Abruzzo, with gusts of wind reaching 100kph in some cases, according to ANSA. </s> ROME: The death toll from fierce storms battering Italy has risen to nine, civil protection authorities said Tuesday, as wild weather swept parts of Europe, leaving motorists and tourists stranded. Road were blocked and thousands of people were left without power in southern and central Europe, as rains and violent winds sparked flooding, tore trees from their roots and whipped debris into the air.

Thick snow has also cloaked French and Italian mountain regions, trapping scores of drivers in their cars and tourists in hotels. In Italy, where Venice was inundated by near-record flooding and ferocious storms drove high winds reaching up to 180 kilometres an hour in some areas, civil protection authorities announced a further four deaths, after confirming five people perished on Monday.

Authorities Tuesday reported a woman died when her home was engulfed by a mudslide in the northern region of Trentino, a man was killed in the northeastern region of Veneto by a falling tree, and a firefighter died during relief operations in South Tyrol. Elsewhere, a man was killed while kitesurfing on Monday near the town of Cattolica on the Adriatic coast, with the local press saying strong winds had blown him into rocks. </s> Torrential rain in Italy has triggered flooding that killed at least five people in the Tuscan port town of Livorno.

Italian state television said four of the victims were family members whose bodies were found in their flooded basement on Sunday.

Some Italian media reports put the death toll at six.

Mayor Filippo Nogarin said he could not confirm the number, but added that casualties could increase because several people were missing. </s> The death toll from violent rainstorms battering Italy has risen to nine, officials said Tuesday.

Most of the country’s northern region remains under a red alert after catastrophic rains and severe winds pounded much of the country, resulting in downed trees, tidal flooding, and thousands left without power.

Venice has been inundated by floodwaters — the worst seen in the Italian city for at least a decade.

On Monday, the water rose to more than five feet above sea level at high tide, bringing three-quarters of the canal city under water.

“The exceptional wave of bad weather leaves us with a dramatic toll: nine dead, four serious injuries and one person missing,” said Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

The national fire brigade said it had intervened in 7,000 cases across the country and that one of its members died after being crushed by a tree during a rescue operation in a small town in the northeast Italian province of South Tyrol.

Authorities said Tuesday that a woman died in the north region of Trentino when her home was overcome by a mudslide and that a man was killed by a falling tree in the northeastern region of Veneto.

Two young people died in the south of Rome when a tree hit their car, and another person was killed in the nearby town of Terracina as winds brought down throngs of pine trees, according to CNN.

Among the victims, according to the news outlet, was a 21-year-old man who was struck by a falling tree while walking in Naples and a woman who died after being hit by debris blown off a building in the northern region of Liguria.

A man was also killed Monday while kite-surfing near the town of Cattolica on the Adriatic coast.

According to Italian media, nearly 200 people, tourists and hotel staff were stranded by heavy snowfall at Stelvio Pass, a mountain pass in northern Italy bordering Switzerland.

The weather was expected to improve Tuesday, “giving the country a truce,” according to an official from Italy’s Civil Protection Service.

Meanwhile, heavy snowfall in France has caused travel chaos and left hundreds of motorists stranded as winter arrived early on Monday.

Nearly 200,000 homes remained without power across the country Tuesday after snowstorms struck central regions Monday evening. </s> ROME: The death toll from fierce storms battering Italy has risen to nine, civil protection authorities said Tuesday (Oct 30), as wild weather caused schools to close and trapped dozens of tourists in the north of the country.

With ferocious storms lashing the country, winds reached up to 180 kilometres an hour in some areas, toppling trees and causing flooding.

Five people were confirmed dead on Monday.

In addition, authorities Tuesday reported a woman died when her home was engulfed by a mudslide and rocks in the northern region of Trentino, a man was killed in the northeastern region of Veneto when by a falling tree, and a firefighter died during relief operations in South Tyrol.

Elsewhere, a man was killed while kitesurfing on Monday afternoon near the town of Cattolica on the Adriatic coast, with the local press saying strong winds had blown his board into the rocks.

A man is also missing at sea off Calabria in the southwest, after his boat was discovered empty washed up on the rocks along the coast.

Italian media have also reported that around 170 people, tourists and hotel staff, were stranded by heavy snowfall at the Stelvio Pass on the Swiss border.

In the northern, canal-ringed city of Venice, rain-soaked tourists were barred from St. Mark's Square on Monday as local authorities said the "acqua alta" (high water) peaked at 156 centimetres.

The waters have only topped 150 centimetres five times before in recorded history.

Genoa's airport is set to remain closed until 1300 GMT as authorities clear the runways of detritus carried by the heavy rains, wind and tides.

Schools in the city are also closed for the day, with Rome and several other regions also halting classes due to the weather. </s> Ten people, including a family of nine, have died in floods around Palermo on the southern Italian island of Sicily, rescue services said on Sunday as fierce storms continue to exact a deadly toll.

They said the bodies of the family, including children aged 1, 3 and 15, were found in their house in Casteldaccia next to a small river which had burst its banks.

Three other members of the same family were able to escape, according to the Agi news agency.

Separately, a man was found dead in his car while two other people are missing.

Earlier this week in Sicily, floods closed many roads and mayors ordered schools, public parks and underpasses shut.

Italy, especially in the north and around Venice, has been hit by a series of strong storms which have claimed at least 20 lives and caused massive damage and disruption.

Trees covering the mountains in the Dolomites range were reduced to matchsticks, flattened by winds that tore through the Veneto region on Thursday.

"It's like after an earthquake," Veneto governor Luca Zaia said. "Thousands of hectares of forest were razed to the ground, as if by a giant electric saw."

Italy's civil protection agency described the weather lashing the country this week as "one of the most complex meteorological situations of the past 50 to 60 years".



KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE newsletter. </s> At least five people died in Italy on Monday as fierce winds and heavy rains lashed across most parts of the country, reported AFP. At least three quarters of Venice was under water while large parts of Italy experienced flooding, reported AP.

The national Civil Protection Agency issued multiple weather warnings as storms swept across of the country, Reuters reported. Several local authorities shut schools and urged people not to travel unless necessary.

Two young people died south of Rome when a tree hit the car they were traveling in, while another person was killed and several injured in the nearby town of Terracina after winds brought down several pine trees. On person died in Naples when heavy winds uprooted trees.

Venice, which is ringed by canals, frequently floods when high winds push in water from the lagoon, but Monday’s levels were the highest recorded since December 2008. Strong winds pushed water level to 156 cm before receding.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said a series of underwater barriers that are being erected in the lagoon would have prevented the flooding. The project, nicknamed Moses, has been delayed due to cost overruns and corruption scandals.

Almost all parts of northern Italy are on alert due to the storms, with wind gusting up to 100 km per hour and rainfall in some parts equivalent to the amount that falls over several months.

The Interior Ministry has urged officials in storm-struck regions to consider closing schools and offices for a second day on Tuesday. Schools were closed in Genoa, Rome and Veneto and several northern towns and the Sicilian port of Messina.

Veneto regional governor Luca Zaia says flooding could reach the levels of the 1966 flood that struck Venice and Florence. </s> Floods kill at least five as storms thrash Italy

A man battles the heavy rain and floods on the way to a football match in Rome September 10, 2017. — Reuters picROME, Sept 10 — At least five people have died in violent rainstorms sweeping across Italy today, with the Tuscan city of Livorno taking the brunt of the flooding, fire services said.

Four people from the same family were found dead in a flooded house in the city, where 40 centimetres of rainfall in four hours transformed streets into rivers and washed away cars.

The Corriere della Sera daily said the dead were a little girl, her parents and a grandparent.

A fifth body was found in an area devastated by landslides. Three other people were missing, the fire brigade said.

“The situation is very difficult, it’s critical. We fear a disaster,” Livorno mayor Filippo Nogarin said.

Italy’s civil protection service issued a code orange alert for Florence as the storms, which began in northern Italy overnight, swept down the country towards the south.

Underpasses were being closed as a precaution in the capital Rome.

Coldiretti, Italy’s main agricultural organisation, said the bad weather was aggravated by coming hard on the heels of a drought which had left the land drier than usual and unable to soak up the rains.

Rainfall in Tuscany in particular had been down 57 per cent this summer, it said.

“The tropicalisation of the climate is causing an increase in extreme weather events, with heat waves, heavy cloud bursts and violent hailstorms which are damaging the national agricultural production,” Coldiretti said.

It put the cost of the damage at over €14 billion (RM70.7 billion) in the last 10 years. — AFP </s> Torrential rain in Italy has triggered flooding that killed at least five people in the Tuscan port town of Livorno.

Italian state television said four of the victims were family members whose bodies were found in their flooded basement on Sunday.

Some Italian media reports put the death toll at six. Mayor Filippo Nogarin said he could not confirm the number, but added that casualties could increase because several people were missing.

Mr Nogarin said “a crazy amount of rain” pummelled Livorno and “the city is literally devastated”.

Train services were interrupted in parts of the Tuscan coastal area.

In Rome, which until recently suffered through three and a half months of drought, the downpour made streets resemble fast-moving streams and several underground stations were closed.
The death toll from heavy floods and strong winds affecting Italy rises to 17 people.