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BFF-18
ITALY-SICILY-WEATHER-FLOOD
10 dead in Sicily floods
ROME, Nov 4, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Ten people, including a family of nine, have
died in floods around Palermo on the southern Italian island of Sicily,
rescue services said Sunday as fierce storms continue to exact a deadly toll.
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.
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”.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1419 hrs