PARIS, France - At least eight people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes as floods caused by torrential rain battered northern Italy on Wednesday.
The extreme weather also forced Formula One to cancel this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit, which was set to be the sixth race of the 2023 season at the first in Europe.
The floods followed two days of heavy rainfall that affected a large area of northern Italy and the Balkans, where landslides and evocations were also reported in Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia.
The worst-hit region was Emilia-Romagna, where rivers overflowed their banks and mudslides swept away roads, bridges, and buildings. The Savio River in Cesena rose to its highest level in 50 years, while the Santerno River threatened to flood the Imola Circuit.
The Italian Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said that an average of about 8 inches of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the region, with some areas registering nearly 20 inches.
He said that the floods were “a terrifying ordeal” and a sign of the impact of climate change on Italy, which has been experiencing long periods of drought followed by intense rainfall.
He called for a new nationwide plan to prevent and manage such disasters, saying that “nothing will ever be the same again”.
Among the victims of the floods were a mother and her two children who died when their car was swept away by a river near Bologna, and a man who drowned in his basement in Cesenatico.
More than 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes and taken to shelters or hotels. Many others were left without electricity, phone or internet services.
Formula One said it decided to cancel the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix for safety reasons and to avoid putting extra strain on the emergency services.
The president and CEO of Formula One, Stefano Domenicali, who is from Emilia-Romagna, said he was “heartbroken” by the situation and expressed his solidarity with the victims and their families.
He said that the decision was “the right one for everyone in the communities and the F1 family”.
The drivers and teams also supported the cancellation and sent their condolences to those affected by the floods.
The next race on the Formula One calendar is scheduled for June 4-6 in Montreal, Canada.
