Bad weather in Genoa, whirlwind and flooding rivers. A wall collapses on cars. Alert in Tuscany

A whirlwind, originating at sea, uprooted plants and swept away containers, but above all rain, so much rain. Liguria, which has been on yellow alert since the early hours of the morning, suffered the arrival of a perturbation that brought very heavy rain, especially in the Genoese area: 2 centimetres in 5 minutes at Sciarborasca, 7.5 centimetres in an hour at Madonna delle Grazie, above Voltri, and 23.6 centimetres in 6 hours at Settepani. The amount of water was such that it led to the overflowing of the Fegino stream, the flooding of streets, squares and subways (monitored on sight by the municipal police and municipal civil protection), and the bursting of manholes that were now saturated.

The worst hit area was the western part of Genoa between Voltri and Sampierdarena, where not only did the rain cause a lot of damage but a whirlwind, or more likely a downburst (a particularly violent meteorological phenomenon in which a column of air descends rapidly from a storm cloud and, once it reaches the ground, expands in all directions generating strong linear gusts of wind) caused considerable damage by overturning and rolling over rubbish bins, overturning vans, uprooting trees and sweeping away some containers of the 'Nuovo borgo Terminal' that fell on the Prà buffer zone. In Pegli, on the other hand, the heavy rain infiltrated the retaining wall of a private garden, which collapsed onto the road below, sweeping away parked cars. No persons were fortunately injured, but the road is closed and the fallen material - earth and stones - will have to be removed. In the Imperiese area, in addition to the persistent rain that caused major flooding and hail, there was also the wind with very strong gusts. A large eucalyptus tree collapsed on the medium voltage line in Dolceacqua, causing a blackout that left several houses without power. In the early afternoon, the thunderstorm structure that hit Genoa moved away and the situation calmed down.

But the Arpal forecasters have already announced an orange alert for tomorrow, the highest level of warning for thunderstorms. Today, they say from Arpal, "there was a lot of precipitable water especially in the first two thousand metres of the atmosphere. Tomorrow that water will reach 5 thousand metres". The "decided worsening" of the weather conditions over the northern regions and Tuscany, with widespread and locally even intense rainfall has led the Civil Protection Department, in agreement with the regions involved, to issue a warning of adverse weather conditions. The warning foresees from the afternoon of today, Saturday 15 November, scattered to widespread rainfall, even in the form of showers or storms, on Liguria and Tuscany, extending to Emilia-Romagna and from the afternoon of tomorrow, Sunday 16 November, to Veneto. The phenomena will be accompanied by heavy showers, frequent electrical activity and strong wind gusts. On the basis of the expected and ongoing phenomena, an orange alert has been assessed for tomorrow, Sunday 16 November, for thunderstorm risk in Liguria and for hydraulic and hydrogeological risk in sectors of Emilia-Romagna. A yellow alert has also been issued in Liguria and over parts of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.

During the period of the orange weather-hydrological alert for thunderstorms and widespread rain, from 12 noon to 8.59 p.m. tomorrow, Sunday 16 November, citizens are required to adopt self-protection behaviours throughout the municipal territory - where the operational pre-alert phase continues - and, already from today, to limit travel for real and effective needs. As of this evening, a ban on motorbikes, tarpaulin vehicles and vans on the 'Aldo Moro' elevated road is being introduced.

From tomorrow morning, and already on yellow alert, parks, gardens and cemeteries will be closed for precautionary reasons throughout the municipal territory. Museo del Risorgimento, Museo Archeologico and MUCE-Museo Certosa di Genova will be closed all day. In via Nicoloso da Recco, in Pegli, in the area affected by the collapse of a wall, Ireti is also on the spot together with the Fire Brigade, Local Police, Aster and Civil Protection. Critical issues linked to the landslide remain, numerous households in the area are without gas distribution service: the Municipal Civil Defence has been activated for the possible supply of food and water. Also in Pegli, for safety reasons, temporary closure of via Beato Martino da Pegli due to the detachment of the tie rods of the street lighting street lamps. The pedestrian subways and the Brin subway remain closed until the end of the weather alert.