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 (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> 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> 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> 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> 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> 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> 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> Torrential rain in Italy has triggered flooding that killed at least five people in the Tuscan port town of Livorno.

Italian state television said four of the victims were family members whose bodies were found in their flooded basement on Sunday.

Some Italian media reports put the death toll at six.

Mayor Filippo Nogarin said he could not confirm the number, but added that casualties could increase because several people were missing. </s> The death toll from the fierce storms battering Italy has risen to eight, civil protection authorities said Tuesday, as heavy rains caused flooding. In addition to the five people confirmed dead on Monday, authorities reported another three deaths in the north of the country, including a woman killed when her home was engulfed by a mudslide and rocks, AFP reported. Six regions were on red alert on Monday due to a wave of storms, torrential rain and gales. The regions included Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Trentino-Alto Adige and Abruzzo, with gusts of wind reaching 100kph in some cases, according to ANSA.
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.