The death toll from heavy rains that hit the Marche region in central Italy on Friday evening rose to 11, with two missing, authorities said on Saturday.
“Search operations to find the missing are ongoing,” the Ancona police station said in a statement. The local press reported that it was an eight-year-old child and a fifty-six-year-old woman.
Unprecedented rains, equivalent to the level of semi-annual precipitation, fell on the Marshinsky district, causing floods and mudflows.
Basements were flooded and a large number of cars were washed away. Falling trees and landslides blocked many local roads, making it difficult for the ambulance to work.
On Saturday, the bad weather continued across most of Italy, with strong winds on the west coast, especially where Tuscany and Rome are located.
Local authorities in Marche expected more rain and urged residents to stay at home. “Leave the first floor of your house and go to the upper classes,” Senagalia Mayor Massimo Olivetti told his compatriots.
In Ravenna (East), a Norwegian cruise ship “Viking Sea” with 870 passengers and 200 crew members on board was torn off by a storm on Saturday morning. Five locomotives intervened to stabilize the ship and then return it to the dock.
