Sardinia floods claim 16 lives Picture of a flooded street taken in Uras, central Sardinia, after a Mediterranean cyclone triggered flash floods. Rome: Streets and fields were flooded, homes and cars were submerged, and at least 16 people were killed on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia after 43 centimetres of rain - half a year's worth - pummeled the island over a 24-hour period. The worst of the storm had passed by Tuesday evening, but a persistent rain kept falling, hampering rescue and relief efforts. Crews worked to repair blocked sewers and restore power and telecommunications lines, while firetrucks cleared roads and railroad tracks of runoff. Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency, described the downpour as "an exceptional event." The Italian government declared a state of emergency and allocated 20 million euros (about $28.7 million) for rescue and relief operations. The government's immediate concern "is to safeguard human life and help those who have lost their homes," Prime Minister Enrico Letta said Tuesday morning, after convening his Cabinet to deal with what he described as a "national tragedy." Mr Letta later flew to the island to meet with relief organisers and give the island a strong signal, he said, that "the state is present." Rivers on the island overflowed their banks, rising as much as three metres above their normal levels and washing out several bridges, Italian news media reported. The defence minister, Mario Mauro, said the island's needs were extensive and varied, because both cities and rural areas were affected by the storm. He said the immediate needs - like finding shelter for those left homeless - were being met. A spokeswoman for the Civil Protection Agency said 16 people were confirmed dead from the storm and flooding, and one was missing. In a Twitter post, Pope Francis said he had been "deeply moved" by the tragedy, and called on people to "pray for the victims, especially for children." Mr Letta said more funds would be allocated to the island once the initial emergency phase was over. "I came to speak with mayors" of the rain-torn cities, he said Tuesday evening. Dismissing criticism of his agency's preparations and initial reaction to the storm, Mr Gabrielli said the Civil Protection Agency's alert system had "done its duty" by signalling an "elevated risk" - the highest level - for much of the island of 1.6 million people. Andrea Buzzi, an expert in dynamic meteorology at an institute affiliated with the National Research Council said a succession of weather systems brought intense precipitation to the same area on the eastern coast of Sardinia over a short period beginning Monday. "The predictability of such events is low," he said. The storm renewed calls in Italy for the government to set aside more money to protect the country, where flooding and other potentially destructive hydrogeological events are frequent.