Bad weather, landslide in Formello: one dead and two injured. Floods in Calabria

Roofs blown off, fallen trees, crumbling cornices and two flights from Barcelona and Milan Malpensa diverted to Catania because of the strong wind. This is the balance of a difficult night for the province of Reggio Calabria. Two hijacked planes then returned to Reggio Calabria during the night and departed regularly this morning. In the province of Reggio Calabria, 30 fire brigade interventions were counted during the night and another 30 are in progress.

There is no sign of improvement in the situation on the largest island, the scene in recent weeks of the drama of Niscemi. For example, a terrible night was recorded in Messina for the blizzard and winds over 100 kilometres per hour that scourged the city and province. Dozens of trees, some very large, collapsed, poles and signs, and roads flooded. The blackout affected several areas: Camaro Superiore, Forte Petrazza, Sant'Anna, Mili San Marco, Giampilieri Superiore. Many described deafening noises, shaking windows, devastated balconies.

In Santa Margherita, a van overturned due to strong mistral gusts. The vehicle rested on the pavement of the promenade. According to initial information, there was no one on board. Even now the bad weather continues with strong winds and dozens of interventions by the fire brigade to clear the road of trees and debris. The Aeolian islands were isolated because only the Caronte e Tourist ship travelled, and the motorway between Messina and Giarre was closed due to the strong gusts of wind.

Around 500 interventions are the balance of the operations carried out by the firefighters in Sardinia over the last two days. Intense rain and strong gusts of wind initially hit the province of Nuoro, and then spread to Sassari and later to Cagliari and Oristano. The operational teams of the four provincial commands are mainly engaged in securing buildings with unsafe parts, removing fallen trees, and dealing with landslides and mudslides. At 5 p.m. on 12 February, numerous requests were still pending: about 150 in Sassari, 130 in Nuoro, 60 in Cagliari and 25 in Oristano. The operations rooms are sorting the teams according to the rescue priorities.

Schools closed in Alghero. The mayor Raimondo Cacciotto has issued an order to close all state and parochial schools of all levels, including children's education services, in order to allow the state of the places to be restored and made safe following the damage caused by the bad weather in the last few hours.

Three young people were injured in Sassari and Usini, swept away by collapsing trees in the strong wind. A minor girl was grazed and injured in the face when a large fir tree uprooted by the wind collapsed in the gardens of Viale Italia and fell over the fence onto the pavement. The girl was rescued by 118 emergency services, her condition is not serious. The local police and the Civil Defence teams are on the spot and are cutting down the tree and securing the area. Another similar accident occurred in Usini (Sassari), where two trees fell near a school, slightly injuring two boys.

Disruption also in Campania. Five families have been evacuated in Vietri sul Mare (Salerno) following a landslide that broke off yesterday from the ridge below the SS 163 Amalfitana road. The evacuation was ordered as a precautionary measure: the Salerno fire brigade intervened on the scene and, after carrying out the necessary technical assessments, found that there was a potential risk to the houses and the road network above, since the detachment of the ridge had damaged the protective metal netting and invaded with debris one of the streets in the town of Salerno, near some houses. The Amalfitana state road is now closed to traffic. A summit is planned in the prefecture with the Civil Protection and the Campania Region to take stock of the situation and adopt all the necessary initiatives to ensure safety.