Twin tornadoes in Marsala cause damage and injuries. Severe weather continues to batter Italy

A pair of marine tornadoes struck the Trapani area, first affecting the Marsala harbour area and then moving inland, causing damage to buildings, cars and crops. The two whirlwinds formed over the sea, a short distance from the coast, beneath a storm cloud. At a school – the De Gasperi school on Via Nazionale – several people were injured. In the neighbouring town of Petrosino, a car was struck and hurled into a ravine.

The continues to cause damage throughout Italy. In the Naples area, traffic conditions have been affected by flooding: the SS 7 Quater Via Domitiana is temporarily closed in both directions from kilometre 46.800 to kilometre 43.100 near Giugliano in Campania. There are two mandatory exits: one at Varcaturo, towards Rome, and one at Giugliano, towards Naples. There have also been reports of damage to buildings, such as the collapse of a wall in a supermarket in Pozzuoli. The capital is also dealing with a series of rescue and safety operations, which are concentrated mainly in the southern coastal area of Anzio and Nettuno. The Civil Protection Agency has confirmed the orange weather alert in certain areas of Campania and Lazio, where some schools remain closed.

In Puglia, the heavy rain last night and this morning has caused widespread flooding across the city of Brindisi. The nightmare of severe storms has not spared the province of Cremona either: overnight, in the municipality of Castelleone, nearly 100 millimetres of rain fell in just a few hours, accompanied by hail and strong gusts of wind. Roads and cellars were flooded, with up to thirty centimetres of water on the ground, signposts torn down and trees fallen onto parked cars: the fire brigade were at work until dawn.