Maltempo: 12 morti tra il Palermitano e l’Agrigentino. Il presidente del Consiglio, Giuseppe Conte, in Sicilia.



Il maltempo flagella ancora la Sicilia, e provoca 12 morti, tra le province di Palermo ed Agrigento. Ed il presidente del Consiglio, Giuseppe Conte, si precipita nell’Isola, per testimoniare solidarietà ed annunciare sostegno.

Nel Palermitano, nei pressi dell’autostrada Palermo – Catania, al confine tra i comuni di Altavilla Milicia e Casteldaccia, una villa è stata investita, travolta e sommersa dall’acqua del fiume Milicia, che è straripato. Le persone all’interno, due famiglie riunite per trascorrere insieme la serata del sabato, sono morte annegate. Un uomo e una bambina, usciti per comperare dei dolci, si sono fatalmente salvati. Un altro uomo, Giuseppe Giordano, fuori dalla casa, ha lanciato l’allarme con il telefonino cellulare aggrappandosi a un albero. E adesso racconta: “Mi sono accorto che l’acqua stava entrando a casa. A tutti ho detto: andiamo subito via. Ma, appena ho aperto la porta, sono stato investito da un fiume d’acqua che mi ha catapultato fuori. Mi sono aggrappato a un albero. Così sono sopravvissuto”. Le vittime, di Palermo, Santa Flavia e Bagheria, sono nove: Rachele Giordano, di 1 anno di età, Francesco Rughò, 3 anni, Federico Giordano, 15 anni, la madre Stefania Catanzaro, 32 anni, e moglie di uno dei tre sopravvissuti, Giuseppe Giordano, il nonno Antonino Giordano, 65 anni, e la moglie Matilde Comito, 57 anni, il figlio Marco Giordano, di 32 anni, e la sorella Monia Giordano, 40 anni. Poi Nunzia Flamia, 65 anni.

E poi, ancora in provincia di Palermo, a Vicari, è stato scoperto morto un uomo, Alessandro Scavone, 44 anni, imprenditore agricolo, consigliere comunale a Salemi, impegnato alla ricerca di un amico disperso, a bordo di un’automobile investita dall’acqua del fiume San Leonardo.

E’ invece disperso Giuseppe Liotta, 40 anni, medico palermitano diretto all’ospedale di Corleone per il turno di lavoro: la sua automobile è stata trovata tra Ficuzza e Corleone, in contrada Raviotta, lungo la statale 118, interrotta tra smottamenti ed allagamenti.

E poi, in provincia di Agrigento, un uomo e una donna da tempo residenti in Germania, a Francoforte, verosimilmente a Cammarata per un soggiorno in occasione delle festività dei Santi e dei Defunti, a bordo di un’automobile noleggiata sono stati investiti da una frana e sbalzati in un burrone profondo circa 30 metri, in contrada San Martino, a Cammarata. Le vittime sono Cosimo Fustaino, 54 anni, originario di Valledolmo, e la moglie, una tedesca di 47 anni.

E ad Agrigento città nel corso della tarda serata di sabato ha imperversato l’incubo dello straripamento del fiume Akragas, che costeggia il versante ovest, tra contrada Sant’Anna, viale Emporium, Villaggio Peruzzo e poi sfocia nei pressi del porticciolo di San Leone. Intorno alle ore 22:30 il Comune ha diffuso l’avviso urgente di sgombero delle abitazioni confinanti con l’argine e la foce del fiume, precisando che tale sgombero sarebbe stato “solo precauzionale”. Vigili del fuoco, Protezione civile comunale, Forze dell’ordine ed Amministrazione comunale hanno materialmente collaborato nella evacuazione di circa 25 famiglie impaurite, tra via dell’Olimpo, via Apollo e in parte viale Emporium. Poi l’esondazione, come confermato dalla Protezione civile, ha invertito la rotta, rientrando progressivamente dalla mezzanotte in poi.</s>Ten people, including a family of nine, have died in floods around Palermo on the southern Italian island of Sicily, rescue services said on Sunday as fierce storms continue to exact a deadly toll.

They said the bodies of the family, including children aged 1, 3 and 15, were found in their house in Casteldaccia next to a small river which had burst its banks.

Three other members of the same family were able to escape, according to the Agi news agency.

Separately, a man was found dead in his car while two other people are missing.

Earlier this week in Sicily, floods closed many roads and mayors ordered schools, public parks and underpasses shut.

Italy, especially in the north and around Venice, has been hit by a series of strong storms which have claimed at least 20 lives and caused massive damage and disruption.

Trees covering the mountains in the Dolomites range were reduced to matchsticks, flattened by winds that tore through the Veneto region on Thursday.

"It's like after an earthquake," Veneto governor Luca Zaia said. "Thousands of hectares of forest were razed to the ground, as if by a giant electric saw."

Italy's civil protection agency described the weather lashing the country this week as "one of the most complex meteorological situations of the past 50 to 60 years".



KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE newsletter.</s>At least nine people have been killed in floods on the island of Sicily after storms battered Italy.

The victims are reported to be members of two families staying in a house which was flooded when a river bank burst near Palermo.

Children aged 1, 3 and 15 were among those who died.</s>SICILY, Italy — At least 29 people were killed during a week of severe weather conditions and devastating flooding in Italy, the country’s interior minister said Sunday.

Twelve people were confirmed dead on the island of Sicily on Sunday, including nine members of two families, the fire brigade announced on Twitter.

The families were dining together when their house was submerged by water from a nearby river that suddenly overflowed.

The fire brigade said its divers had found the bodies. Among the victims were two children, 1 and 3 years old.

Italy’s civil protection agency said it was still looking for a doctor who had been on his way to work at a hospital Saturday night and was missing.

High winds and heavy rain have devastated parts of the country over the past week, causing the worst flooding in at least a decade in Venice, damages of more than 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) in Veneto and landslides that have cut off villages, authorities said.

The situation in Sicily is “dramatic,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Sunday.

Conte will call a cabinet meeting to announce a state of emergency in affected regions, he said at a press conference in Palermo, Sicily.

Italy’s civil protection agency continues to monitor the situation, issuing weather warnings via Twitter, while volunteers from the Italian Red Cross work to rescue people.

Several of last week’s deaths were caused by falling trees as winds as strong as 190 kilometers per hour (118 mph) toppled acres of woodland, including the famous “Violin Forest” that provided wood for violin maker Antonio Stradivarius’ instruments.

Two young people died south of Rome when a tree hit their car. Another was hit by a falling tree while walking in Naples.

Around 300,000 trees were flattened after winds swept through the Val d’Assa in the Asiago plateau, Roberto Ciambetti, president of the Veneto regional council, told CNN.

“Tens of thousands of tall trees were felled like toothpicks,” he said.

Much of Venice was under water last week as strong winds drove the high tide to one of the highest levels ever recorded/

St. Mark’s Square became a lake, and floodwater spilled across the ancient marble floors of St. Mark’s Basilica.

“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.

Floodwaters also covered several dozen square meters of the 1,000-year-old marble pavement in front of the alter of the Madonna Nicopeia, a 12th-century icon, and submerged the Baptistery and the Zen Chapel, Tesserin said.

This week’s flooding was caused by a seasonal high tide and a strong low-pressure system in southern Europe that brought strong winds from the south and pushed water up the Adriatic Sea into Venice. This is the peak time of the year for seasonal flooding known as acqua alta, or high water, in the city.

Flooding at high tide has become much more common in Venice because of climate change — a problem that will continue to worsen as seas rise because of increasing temperatures and melting ice sheets, according to CNN meteorologists.

Work to install innovative underwater flood barriers to protect Venice from serious flooding, known as the Moses Project, has been underway for years. However, it has not yet been completed, thanks in part to corruption and spiraling costs.

A spokesman for the civil protection agency in Venice told CNN that the Moses system could have mitigated the impact of salt water on the city’s historic sites.

“Of course if the Moses project was completed the damages we are seeing now would not have happened,” he said, “but the project was not completed because of the high cost.”

The spokesman for the mayor’s office called for the project to be completed.

“The Moses project is important to the Venetians,” he said. “This infrastructure must be completed to avoid extraordinary waters, like what happened on Monday.”

A spokeswoman for the New Venice Consortium, which is responsible for the Moses system, told CNN: “The work on the Moses began in 2003. At the moment it is 92-93% concluded.”

Venice also has a system in place to monitor tides and warn of high water levels.</s>ROME (AFP) - Ten people, including a family of nine, have died in floods around Palermo, on the southern Italian island of Sicily, rescue services said on Sunday (Nov 4).

They said the bodies of the family, including children aged one, three and 15, were found in their house in Casteldaccia next to a small river which had burst its banks.

A man was found separately in his car, while two other people are missing, they said, as Italy grapples with fierce storms which have already claimed at least 20 lives this week.</s>Storms, floods in Sicily kill at least 10 people; 2 missing

ROME (AP) — Rainstorms lashing Sicily have killed at least 10 people, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said before heading Sunday for the stricken Mediterranean island. State radio said nine of those victims were in a home that was flooded by a rapidly swelling river in the countryside near Palermo.

The radio report said one man survived the house flood late Saturday night by clinging to a tree. The survivor used his cellphone to call for help but it was too late for the others, including a one-year-old baby and a three-year-old child. The victims were from two families who had gathered in the country villa for the weekend.

Another confirmed fatality was a man whose body was found on a guardrail along a Palermo-area road after floodwaters swept away his car, Italian news reports said.

State TV also said two people were killed by the storm in the outskirts of Agrigento, a Sicilian tourist town famed for its ancient Greek temples. If confirmed, those deaths would raise the overall death toll in Sicily to 12.

At least two persons were missing Sunday in other incidents in Sicily after floodwaters swept away their cars, including that of a doctor heading to the hospital of the hill town of Corleone.

Storms had battered northern Italy earlier in the week, killing at least 15 people, uprooting millions of trees near Alpine valleys and leaving several Italian villages without electricity or road access for days.

In Casteldaccia, the hamlet where the river flooded the home in Sicily, neighbor Maria Concetta Alfano said she, her husband and their adult disabled daughter fled after barking dogs drew their attention to the rising waters in the Milicia River, the Italian news agency ANSA said. It quoted the husband, Andrea Cardenale, as saying as he drove away as "water was up to the hood of the car."

Rescuers worked Sunday to retrieve the bodes in the home.</s>Nine people have died after a rain-swollen river flooded a home in the countryside near Palermo, Sicily, Italian state radio said.

Nine people have died after a rain-swollen river flooded a home in the countryside near Palermo, Sicily, Italian state radio said.

Heavy rains have lashed Sicily, a southern Italian island, several days after storms ravaged much of northern Italy.

State radio said one person survived the flood late on Saturday night by clinging to a tree. Reports added that the victims were from two families who were spending the weekend together.

The Italian news agency Ansa said two people were missing on Sunday in other incidents near Sicily after floodwaters swept away their cars, including that of a doctor heading to a Corleone hospital.

Italy’s earlier storms in the north killed at least 15 people, flattened or uprooted millions of trees near Alpine valleys and left several villages without electricity or road access for days.</s>ROME — Italian state radio says a rain-swollen river in the countryside near Palermo, Sicily, has flooded a home, killing nine people.

Heavy rains lashed Sicily, a southern Italian island, on Saturday, several days after storms ravaged much of northern Italy. State radio said one person survived the flood late Saturday night by clinging to a tree, and that the victims were from two families spending the weekend together.

The Italian news agency ANSA said two people were missing Sunday in other incidents near Sicily after floodwaters swept away their cars, including that of a doctor heading to a Corleone hospital.

Italy's earlier storms in the north killed at least 15 people, flattened or uprooted millions of trees near Alpine valleys and left several villages without electricity or road access for days.</s>Storms, floods in Sicily kill at least 12 people; 2 missing

ROME (AP) — Storms lashing Sicily have killed at least 12 people with torrential floods, Italian authorities said as the country's leader headed Sunday to the stricken Mediterranean island. Divers pulled out nine of those victims from a home flooded by a rapidly swelling river in the countryside near Palermo.

State TV broadcaster RaiNews24 said the sole survivor of the flood that ravaged the home with water and mud was the owner, who had just stepped outside to walk the family dogs Saturday when the torrent hit.

News reports said the man at first clung to a tree, then ended up on the roof of a nearby house. He used his cellphone to call for help but it was too late for the others, who included a one-year-old baby, a three-year-old child and a teenager. The victims were from two families who had gathered in the country villa for the weekend.

A man's body was also found on a guardrail along a Palermo-area road after floodwaters swept away his car, Italian news reports said.

Across the island, in the town of Cammarata, near Agrigento, the fire department said its divers were working to recover the bodies of two people swept away while driving on a road near the flooding Saraceno River.

Also in Agrigento province, firefighters rescued 14 people from a hotel in the town of Montevago, which was threatened by floodwaters from the Belice River.

Agrigento, famed for the ruins of ancient Greek temples, is a popular tourist destination.

Elsewhere in Sicily, at least two other people were missing Sunday after floodwaters swept away their cars, including a doctor heading to the hospital in the hill town of Corleone.

Other storms had battered northern Italy earlier in the week, killing at least 15 people, uprooting millions of trees near Alpine valleys and leaving several Italian villages without electricity or road access for days.

In Casteldaccia, the hamlet where the river flooded the home in Sicily, neighbor Maria Concetta Alfano said she, her husband and their adult disabled daughter fled after barking dogs drew their attention to the rising waters in the Milicia River, the Italian news agency ANSA said. It quoted the husband, Andrea Cardenale, as saying he drove away as "water was up to the hood of the car."

Rescuers retrieved the bodies from the home. A Sicilian prosecutor opened an investigation to determine if any human error, such as possible inadequate drainage of the river, might have played a role in the deaths.

Frances D'Emilio is on twitter at www.twitter.com/fdemilio.</s>MILAN (Reuters) - Two families were killed in the same house in Sicily when the torrential rains and high winds lashing Italy caused a river to burst its banks, drowning the nine people inside.

Rushing water filled the villa in Casteldaccia in the province of Palermo in moments, wiping out the families who were spending Saturday night there.

A father and his daughter escaped harm because they had left the house to do some shopping while a third person climbed a tree to survive.

The tragedy brings the number of people killed in Sicily this weekend to at least 12 after three other people died in their cars when hit by torrents of water.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte spoke of “an immense tragedy” during a visit on Sunday to affected areas in Sicily.

He said a cabinet meeting would be convened this week to declare a state of emergency and come up with the first package of aid for areas affected.

Heavy rains and gale-force winds have battered Italy for several days, uprooting millions of trees and cutting off villages and roads.

Italy’s Civil Protection Agency said deaths caused by the wave of bad weather stood at 17, excluding the fatalities in Sicily.

Some of the worst damage has been recorded in the northern regions of Trentino and Veneto.

On Saturday the governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia, said storm damage in the region amounted to at least a billion euros.

During a visit on Sunday to badly-hit areas in the north, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said 250 million euros ($285 million) had already been earmarked for relief.

He said the government would be asking to use special EU funds.

Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister, said a rough estimate of how much it would cost to safeguard Italy against such events was 40 billion euros.
Heavy floods affect Palermo in Sicily, Italy, killing twelve people. The total death toll of the floods and strong winds in the country rises to 31 people.