Italians evacuate as flooding hits Emilia-Romagna

Storm Boris is battering the north-east and central regions of Italy, days after causing widespread flooding in central Europe.

More than 1,000 residents in the north-eastern region of Emilia Romagna have been evacuated, while towns in the central region of Marche of Italy reported serious flooding and disruption. Two people have been reported missing.

On Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced €10bn (£8.4bn) of EU funding for affected countries.

Von der Leyen made the announcement after meeting the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria to discuss aid for the flood-hit region.

The meeting was held in the Polish city of Wroclaw, in southwestern Poland, which has been threatened by high river levels for days.

Speaking at a news briefing afterwards, Von der Leyen said: “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures”.

Her comments came as Italy became the latest country to suffer the fury of Storm Boris – a low pressure system which swept across Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Austria, killing at least 23 people.

Schools across Emilia Romagna have closed. Some roads were impacted by landslides and railway traffic has been severely disrupted.

Authorities warned residents to stay out of their basements and to relocate to the upper floors of their homes.

Schools, libraries and parks were shut in Ravenna, and the University of Bologna cancelled exams and lessons.

The city of Faenza has been the worst-affected, with the levels of the two rivers crossing it rising rapidly overnight.

Residents quoted by local media said they had had to leave their homes in dinghies in the middle of the night. High river levels have also caused the sewage system to overflow.

But authorities in nearby Bologna said on Thursday morning that river levels in the city were under control, although the weather alert is set to continue until Friday for most of the region. Red warnings for flooding and landslides have been issued for eastern Emilia Romagna.

Falconara on the Adriatic coast has seen 204mm (8 inches) of rain since Wednesday, well over September’s average of around 67mm. Over 300mm of rain were recorded over the Apennine mountain region.

The rain will ease through Friday, and the weekend is looking largely dry but as seen in other parts of central Europe, the flooding risk may continue.

For residents of Emilia-Romagna, Storm Boris echoes the severe – and deadly – flooding the region faced just over a year ago.

In May 2023, 13 people died after six months’ rainfall fell in a day and a half, leading to more than 20 rivers bursting their banks.

Tens of thousands of people had to flee their homes and the flooding caused billions of euros of damage.

Although the worst of Storm Boris appears to be over across much of the region, the levels of the Danube River are still rising in Hungary. Prime Minister Victor Orban said on Wednesday the water level in Budapest was expected to peak on Saturday afternoon or evening, but that it would be lower than record levels seen in 2013.

The recent events in central Europe fit with expectations of more extreme rainfall in a warming world, although it is not yet possible to quantify exactly how much of a role climate change has played.

However, climate scientists have been warning for years about extreme rainfall events like these occurring as the planet warms.