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> 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> 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> 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> 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> Heavy Weather: Several Dead And Injured In Italy

Heavy rainfall and gusts in the Mediterranean cause seven dead and many injured.

The balance of the heavy storms with heavy rain and storms that affected much of Italy has worsened further. At least seven people were killed by trees, and more than a dozen were injured. On Sunday at least five people had died.

In the province of Frosinone, south of Rome, two people lost their lives on Monday when a tree fell on their car, Italian media reported. In Terracina in Lazio, in Naples and in Savona in Liguria, a total of four people died. Another person died in Feltre in the Dolomiti province of Belluno. On Sunday at least five people had died.

In the provinces of Belluno and Treviso, there were power outages. 160,000 households were affected. Floods and landslides were also reported in Carinthia’s neighboring region Friuli Venezia Giulia.

The bad weather front paralyzed the country from north to south. Schools and kindergartens remained closed in many regions, including Veneto, Liguria, Rome, and parts of Tuscany. Also on Tuesday, they should remain closed in many places, including in Rome.

The severe thunderstorms in the Mediterranean region also hit the Croatian Adriatic coast on Monday. The highways around the northern port city of Rijeka are closed for traffic for the time being due to heavy rain, according to media reports. Due to storms with gale-force winds, numerous ferry connections between Dubrovnik and Rijeka started from the mainland to the islands.

The state weather service issued warning in the morning for the entire Croatian coastal region of the highest level. Also for the hinterland at Gospic and Knin alarm was given in view of the approaching bad weather front. </s> Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Storms, mudslides and strong winds across Italy left five people dead and one missing, forcing firefighters to carry out 1,600 interventions, while high tides in Venice have covered 70 percent of the historic center, Italian press reported Monday.

Three of the deaths occurred in the central region of Lazio: A man and a woman died in the province of Frosinone after a pine tree crashed into the vehicle in which they traveled, while a 57-year old man was killed by a falling tree in Latina, Il Corriere della Sera reported Monday.

In the southern region of Campania, a 21-year old man was hit by a tree and later died from his injuries in a nearby hospital. A woman in the same region remains in serious condition after similar injuries.

A woman in the province of Savona, a port in northwest Italy, was killed by an object lifted by the wind. In Ancona, located in central Italy along the Adriatic coast, a man remains seriously injured after falling from a roof.

The owner of a sailboat that crashed Sunday against rocks in the port of Catanzaro, in southern Italy, remained missing Monday, the newspaper added.

Officials recommended that city authorities ask the population to limit movements, and counseled the closing of schools and businesses. Many schools in several areas of the country were closed Monday and would likely remain so on Tuesday, though the weather is expected to improve.

Firefighters reported 1,600 interventions, with 700 of them in the north-central region of Toscana.

In Venice, residents saw rapidly rising water during the afternoon causing a record high tide of 61 inches, which flooded 70 percent of the historic city center. The city's public boat transportation service was canceled and a few units were only working to pick up passengers stranded in flooded stops.

The highway pass between Italy and Autria at Brennero was closed twice during the day. There were multiple reports affecting agriculture, ranging from flooded fields in the north to the loss of olives in the south because of the wind.

Italian newspaper Il Messaggero counted six deaths as a result of the bad weather.

In addition to multiple people injured, property damage and stranded tourists, the weather events also delayed train, airplane and highway traveling. </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
Heavy floods and strong winds continue to affect all of Italy. For the duration of the disaster across the country, the death toll is eleven people.