In addition, three other people were missing in the province of the same name, which is located in the Marche region, as the ANSA news agency reported on Friday night, citing civil protection.
The Ancona provincial government said the flooding was a result of Thursday afternoon’s persistent rains. Marche President Francesco Acquaroli wrote on Facebook that the “very serious meteorological crisis” in the region is a cause for extreme concern. On Thursday, civil protection called on residents of the coastal town of Senigallia north of Ancona to seek out higher-lying areas in view of the flooding.
Civil defence, fire brigade and police worked for hours to clear the mud from the streets, said Luigi D’Angelo, spokesman for the national civil protection agency. Such heavy rains were not predicted. “There are still isolated people that we are rescuing,” explained Stefano Stefoni, Director of Civil Protection for the Marche Region. The municipality of Cantiano is isolated, as are some retirement homes. Landslides and mud on the roads have been cleared. “In two to three hours, about 420 millimeters of rain fell, half of what rains in the region in a year. These are moments of extreme concern,” said the President of the Marche Region.
Electricity is not stable in the affected area, and phone lines are not always working either, authorities said. In Cantiano, in the province of Pesaro Urbino, a municipality of just over 2,000 people, the streets became torrents and cars were washed away. The town square was flooded by a meter of water. The residents of a retirement home and some other seniors had to be brought to safety by the fire brigade in inflatable boats.
Mayor Alessandro Piccini called on citizens to stay at home via social media. “The images from Cantiano are shocking,” wrote the mayor of Pesaro, Matteo Ricci, on Facebook. “We stand with the Mayor and all inland communities affected by this violent downpour with strength and solidarity in the hope that the emergency will soon be over.”
Source: Nachrichten
