Weather

Bad weather: cloudburst in Lombardy, Lambro and Seveso floods. A4 reopened between Brescia and Brianza

The alert will continue tomorrow 16 May. Man rescued in Milan. According to forecasts, intense phenomena will continue to hit Piedmont and Lombardy and then slide towards Emilia, Veneto and much of the North-East

15 May 2024

Allagamenti a Milano, esonda il Lambro: centinaia di interventi

6' min read

Key points

Lamping ponds Lambro activated, highest attention
The first river to cross the banks
Not only the Lambro, the Seveso is also scary
The forecast
Landslides and flooding possible in Trentino
Alert in Veneto for heavy showers and thunderstorms

6' min read

Flooding and flooding, caused by incessant rain for 24 hours, are creating heavy disruption in Milan and much of Lombardy. And the forecast does not bode well. Meanwhile, a man was trapped inside a shack by the waters of the River Lambro in Milan, necessitating the intervention of the fire brigade. The operations were carried out by the Saf team, applying river rescue techniques. The man was rescued and is in good condition. More than 200 interventions were carried out by the fire brigade: more than half in the Milan area and dozens in the province of Monza Brianza, mainly for rescuing people in difficulty and draining. The Milan Carabinieri provincial command has activated anti-shooting services in the areas worst hit by the floods, which will continue until the end of the emergency. And despite the rain, 20 thousand people flocked to Piazza Duomo in Milan in the evening to attend the 'Radio Italia Live' concert.

In the evening, on the A4 Milan-Brescia motorway, the section between the junction with the A35 Bre.Be.Mi, in the province of Brescia, and Cavenago (in Brianza) in the direction of Milan, which had previously been closed due to flooding caused by heavy rain in the areas surrounding the motorway, was reopened. This was announced by Anas. Traffic is currently flowing on two lanes at the site and there are no traffic jams.

Milano, maltempo: i vigili del fuoco soccorrono persone in difficoltà

In Monza Thursday 16 schools closed near the Lambro

Due to the hydrometric level of the Lambro river, which in Monza is still above the guardrail limit (two metres), the mayor of Monza, Paolo Pilotto, has decided that institutes near the river will remain closed tomorrow, 16 May. In detail, the Nido Centro nursery school, the Umberto I kindergarten, the De Amicis primary school, the Confalonieri secondary school, the Istituto Preziosissimo Sangue, and the Centro Nei. All other schools of all levels remain open. A number of city arteries also remain closed to traffic. The municipal administration advises everyone not to go near water courses in order to avoid unnecessary dangerous situations.

In Milan, roads closed and bus lines diverted

After the flooding of the Seveso and Lambro rivers, some roads in Milan have been closed and several Atm lines have been diverted or limited. Viale Ca' Granda, via Vittorini and via San Maurizio al Lambro (Cologno) are closed to traffic, while Atm reports that some surface lines are diverted. Specifically, bus 45 is deviating and skipping stops between viale Ungheria and San Donato: bus 66, in both directions, is deviating and skipping stops between viale Ungheria/via Mecenate and via Milano/C.na Boscana. Bus 88 does not operate between viale Ungheria/via Mecenate and Linate Paese, while bus 701 towards Cologno Sud, diverts and skips stops from viale Italia/Centro Commerciale to via Battisti/Veneto; towards Sesto Rondò, from Cologno San Maurizio to viale Italia/Centro Commerciale.

Maltempo Veneto, acqua alta a Montagnana e Casale di Scodosia

Laminating basins Lambro activated, very high attention

"Thanks to the activation of the lamination basins," said the Lombardy Region's Councillor for Territory and Green Systems, Gianluca Comazzi, "which have already been built by the Lombardy Region and which limit the flooding of the Lambro, we are coping with a very difficult situation and containing even heavier impacts on all the municipalities downstream, in particular Milan, Monza and Cinisello Balsamo. The concern, however, is not over and the attention remains very high. We tell the Milan municipality and in particular the competent councillor,' Comazzi adds, 'to pay more attention to ordinary maintenance, especially to that of the hydraulic network and rainwater that is flooding subways, roads and various areas of the city.

The situation, at the moment, sees on Lake Pusiano the dam closed since 10pm last night. The lake has invaded 2,750,000 cubic metres and has risen 50 centimetres in one day. 5 million cubic metres are still pottable. At Costa Masnaga, the lamination tank, active since 12 noon today, has lightened the Bevera stream, a tributary of the Lambro, invading 400,000 cubic metres. At Inverigo, the lamination basin, active since 11 a.m. today, has flooded 1 million cubic metres, reaching its maximum capacity.At Monza Park, the floodplain areas have also been activated.

Pioggia senza sosta, esonda il Lambro a Milano e Monza
Photogallery26 foto

The first river to break its banks

The Lambro was the first river to burst its banks, overflowing in some Milanese neighbourhoods and then in the Parco di Monza. 'In Ponte Lambro,' said the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, 'we have 170 people without power. We are also finding an emergency solution for tonight in our Cam, we are bringing cots'. In Via Rilke, fire brigade divers intervened to help a disabled woman who could not leave her house. The fallen trees also hampered public transport.

But the Fire Brigade carried out hundreds of interventions throughout the province. In Masate (Milan), the red helmets evacuated a kindergarten due to rising water levels. Again in the Milan area, children and adults were also rescued in Bellinzago Lombardo thanks to a joint intervention by the fire brigade and carabinieri. And the bad weather in Milan has triggered political controversy against the municipality.

The situation worsened by the hour also in Monza, where the park was closed due to the flooding of the Lambro river, cars in a car park were submerged by water and several kindergartens and schools were evacuated. The mayor of the Brianza capital, Paolo Pilotto, has urged citizens not to use their cars. In Bernareggio (Monza), instead, a retaining wall collapsed: as a precautionary measure, the three families living in an adjacent building were evacuated.

Maltempo nel Milanese, il sorvolo dell'elicottero dei vigili del fuoco

Not only the Lambro, even the Seveso is scary

Not only the Lambro, however. The Seveso river also overflowed late this afternoon, 15 May. The Milan City Council's lamination tank held as long as it could. Then, once it was filled, the waters flooded the Niguarda district. "This is because," said Milan councillor Marco Granelli, "one basin alone is not enough, we also need those in Senago, Lentate and Paderno-Varedo. We have to do all the basins, that's why we tell the Lombardy Region that we mustn't waste a minute". Inconvenience and risks have affected a large part of Lombardy, also heavily affecting the circulation of trains, in particular the Varese-Milan-Treviglio, Milan-Lecco and Novara-Milan-Pioltello lines.

Flooding and flooding, particularly of subways, were recorded in the Lodigiano and Varesotto areas. In Bulciago, in the Lecchese area, the Bevera torrent burst its banks and numerous stretches of road were closed. The level of the Lake of Como is rising steadily. The bad weather also caused disruptions on the motorways. In particular, 6 kilometres of tailbacks were recorded on the A1 due to the closure of the Fiorenzuola exit due to flooding. The A4 was closed between the tolls of Castegnato, in the Brescia area, and Cavenago (Monza), in the direction of Milan.

Maltempo, ampie zone allagate nell'Est milanese

The forecast

The alert will continue into tomorrow 16 May. According to the forecast, intense phenomena will continue to hit Piedmont and Lombardy and then slide towards Emilia, Veneto and most of the North-East. In the South, on the other hand, intense heat is expected with peaks of up to 35 degrees. Spring 2024, which in the north resembles winter and in the south summer, is splitting Italy in two, and risks turning into a nightmare.

A Milano Ponte Lambro il quartiere più colpito da allagamenti

Landslides and flooding possible in Trentino

Possible hydrogeological risks in Trentino due to the wave of bad weather. The alert has been issued by the Civil Protection Authority: from 4 p.m. today to midnight tomorrow, intense rainfall is in fact expected, especially in the south-eastern sectors and in the evening when it may take the form of thunderstorms, up to 30-60 millimetres.

"As of this afternoon, critical situations are considered possible, mainly due to erosion and landslides in the hydrographic network, surface runoff with possible material transport phenomena, flooding, overflows, landslides and rapid flows," reads a note issued by the Civil Protection. Such critical situations may also cause inconveniences and effects on the road and rail traffic, as well as on networks, including overhead, communication and service distribution networks.

Maltempo in Veneto, strade come fiumi nella bassa padovana

Alert in Veneto for heavy showers and thunderstorms

The Decentralised Functional Centre of the Veneto Civil Protection has issued an updated hydrogeological and hydraulic criticality warning, valid until 2 p.m. on Friday 17 May.

Arpav's weather forecasts indicate probable heavy and even repeated showers and some intense thunderstorms, especially on the plains in the second part of today. Tomorrow, after a temporary attenuation and thinning of rainfall in the morning, except for some more significant phenomena on the eastern plains, in the second part of the day, instability is likely to resume and the weather will become more and more disturbed with widespread rainfall with showers and thunderstorms.

Possible intense thunderstorms between the Pre-Alps and the lowlands, not excluding locally also persistent, especially on the central-eastern plains, with occasional heavy amounts. Thinning and lessening of the phenomena from the evening onwards.