Parts of Emilia Romagna still under floodwater

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 4 - Parts of the northeastern region of Emilia Romagna remained under floodwater on Thursday morning despite an improvement in weather conditions as the authorities started assessing the damage caused by two days of unprecedented rainfall following months of severe drought.
    "Never has so much water fallen in 36 hours," Regional Governor Stefano Bonaccini told Radio 24.
    The President of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) also warned of the risk of "landslides and micro-mudslides in an area first hit by drought and then by heavy rainfall fall of water".
    Two people are known to have died as a result of the flooding and 500 people had to be evacuated from their homes, with the area between the provinces of Ravenna and Bologna bearing the brunt of the extreme weather.
    On Wednesday Bonaccini said he would ask central government to declare a state of emergency in the region.
    "We're all going to have to get busy in order to speed up the ecological and climate transition," Bonaccini told Radio 24, calling for more prevention and more resources. "We need to do everything possible to reinforce the territory, make the rivers cleaner, try to build stronger embankments, intervene on instability," he said.
    However, "if climate change leads to these upheavals, we have the issue of having to fight it by all together reducing the air pollution that is causing the planet to overheat", he concluded.
    Meanwhile, Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto said the government would discuss the situation in Emilia Romagna during a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (ANSA).