Nearly 1,500 evacuated in Emilia Romagna floods

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 20 - Search operations were ongoing on Friday morning for two people reported missing near Ravenna after the Emilia-Romagna region experienced a second night of floods caused by torrential rain.
    At least two people were reported missing in the floods on Thursday while nearly 1,500 residents were evacuated with the extreme-weather red alert expected to last at least until Friday night, local authorities said.
    The pair are missing at Bagnacavallo near Ravenna after a roof where they had taken shelter collapsed where the Lamone river broke its banks, flooding the town and destroying homes.
    Nearly the entire town was evacuated.
    The worst-hit provinces were Bologna, Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna and Rimini.
    In particular, severely affected zones included the town of Modigliana near Cesena and Forlì which was hit by landslides, a number of areas in the province of Bologna, where the Idice river broke its banks at Budrio, the Zena valley and Forlì, where an overflowing Montone river kept residents on edge, local authorities said.
    In the province of Ravanna, the areas of Faenza, Castel Bolognese, Cotignola and Lugo were badly hit by the floods.
    Late on Thursday, the rain ceased and the level of rivers sensibly decreased with a number of evacuation orders or orders for residents to remain on the top floor of buildings revoked.
    Railway traffic was reactivated in most provinces with just a few exceptions.
    The extreme-weather red alert however was extended to Friday with schools remaining closed in the area of Ravenna and in a few areas around Forlì and Cesena, interim Emilia-Romagna Governor Irene Priolo said.
    Civil protection department chief Fabio Ciciliano said the "emergency is absolutely not over", explianing that the evolution of the situation was being closely monitored.
    In May 2023, Emilia Romagna was hit by flooding and landslides linked to unprecedented rainfall that left 17 people dead and caused billions of euros of damage.
    Many of the areas flooded due to the torrential rain Thursday had already been affected by the 2023 floods.
    Meanwhile torrential rain also hit the Marche region, in particular Ancona where the Aspio river overflowed its banks, and the province of Senigallia.
    In Tuscany, the northern part of the Mugello area on Friday was on high alert after a number of provincial roads were shut down on Thursday due to landslides caused by torrential rain. (ANSA).