The body of a 67-year-old man who was
caught up in flash floods on Sunday in the Sicilian town of
Scordia has been found, firefighters said on Monday.
The man's 54-year wife is still missing and rescuers are
searching for her.
The married couple got out of their Ford Fiesta car on Sunday
when mud and floods inundated the town near Catania and they
were swept away by the fury of the water, an eyewitness said.
The eyewitness was a motorist who was rescued by fire-fighters
after being trapped in his car by the water and mud.
Firefighters said Monday that they had carried out 580 rescues
in the previous 24 hours in Sicily and Calabria.
Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia remained on alert on
Monday in relation to the extreme weather, which caused rivers
to burst their banks in the provinces of Trapani and Catania on
Sunday, with torrential rain and high winds continuing to
clobber the south.
Catania Mayor Salvo Pogliese has closed the city's schools,
parks and cemeteries on Monday.
Antonio Sanò, the director of the iLMeteo.it weather website,
said Monday that the cyclone that has hit the south has
strengthened and been upgraded to a Mediterranean hurricane,
with winds of over 100 km/h.
He said the wave of bad weather is set to last all week.
Scientists say climate change caused by human activity is making
extreme weather events more frequent and even more intense.
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