A woman walks in a flooded street in Venice. REUTERS/Manuel
Silvestri
Two men and a woman were killed when their car fell off a
collapsed bridge in Tuscany, as floods swamped central Italy
for a third straight day.
In all four people have died in flooding that forced part of
the country's main north-south highway to close and has
damaged many homes and shops as well as thousands of acres of
farmland.
Tuscany was particularly badly affected, with 800 people
evacuated from their homes in the village of Albinia,
thousands left without electricity and several towns isolated
by swamped roads. The main A-1 highway was closed in parts of
the region.
Floods in the Tuscan district of Massa Carrara had caused 10
million euros of damage, according to Italian agricultural
group Coldiretti, to farms, crops and olive groves.
The Tiber river burst its banks north of the capital of Rome
as heavy rain moved south, flooding factories and homes near
the ancient town of Orte.
"Even if you listen to the oldest inhabitants this has never
happened before," said Orte resident Luca Seccese. "It has
completely destroyed us."
The centre of Rome was kept safe by high embankment walls and
because there had been no heavy rain there for two days.
Water levels were receding in Venice, the lagoon city and
UNESCO World Heritage Site that at the weekend saw its
sixth-highest water levels since records began in 1872.
St Mark's Square, one of the lowest lying areas of the city,
where some tourists were able to swim in high water on
Sunday, was returning to normal, a city official said.
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