Flooding Takes Nine Lives in Italy
Heavy rains have slammed Italy, resulting in nine deaths. During the havoc, trees have collapsed onto cars and houses; Italy hasn’t seen flooding like this in years.
Many Italian cities face heavy rains and flooding during this time of the year, but it rarely gets this bad. Many of the canals that Italy is known for have overflowed and swept through the streets of Northern Italy. Almost 77% of the city is underwater, especially Venice, which has faced the worst of the floods. When interviewing a sophomore, Kieran Tully, he reacted to this event by saying, “It stinks that something like this happened, but unfortunately it’s a part of life. My condolences go out to the families that lost many loved ones. There’s not much we can do about it now, but learn from it and try to prevent severe flooding like this in the future.”
Thousands of residents and tourists were forced to trudge through the high waters that occupy the city. Residents and shop owners forced the water out by using buckets. This system was slightly effective, but unfortunately, there is still severe damage.
Northern Italy was transformed into a lake. Many people were forced to walk through the murky waters to get to safety. Italian officials estimate that the water will take a while to recede. Other areas of Northern Italy experienced heavy winds and rains that totaled cars and swept through buildings. Officials are saying that the flooding may ruin some of Italy’s sacred and historical buildings. The salt water that fills the city may start to eat at the historical buildings and artifacts. An Italian official said to CNN that, ‘"In a single day, the basilica aged 20 years, but perhaps this is an optimistic consideration," Carlo Alberto Tesserin, head of the board responsible for St. Mark's Basilica, said in a statement.’ Many officials fear that the water will destroy some of Italy’s prized possessions, but the board responsible for St. Mark’s Basilica isn’t too worried and is hopeful that the damage isn’t severe.
Even with St. Mark’s square as a lake, thousands of people were forced to navigate through the area to get to safety. With the help of local officials, people safely got through the flooded square. A student, Evan Ackerman, described this natural disaster as, “Devastating.”
Despite the extreme flooding, marathon runners didn’t let the water stop them. They splashed through the streets to complete a mile race. Although dangerous, this shows that the people of Italy don’t let anything stop them. The race was on Sunday, and runners were completely unfazed that their city was underwater.