Emergency services in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna continued to carry out rescues and evacuations on Saturday, after floods inundated large areas.
The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in northern Italy had reached 14 by late Thursday, authorities said, and could rise further over the weekend.
More bodies were found on Thursday after severe flooding and several landslides hit dozens of towns and cities in the northern region, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate.
The flood left a trail of destruction in its wake, damaging homes and shops, while storm debris blocked roads and disrupted train travel, according to media reports.
The coastal region of Emilia-Romagna was hit twice, first by heavy rain two weeks ago on parched ground unable to absorb it, causing rivers to overflow overnight.
The area was particularly vulnerable. Its location between the Apennines and the Adriatic caught the weather system this week that dumped half the average annual amount of rain in 36 hours.
[pub1]