Italy to release emergency funds for flooded areas

The Italian government will release emergency funds on Tuesday for the northeastern regions affected by the unprecedented floods, which have killed 14 people. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced, and thousands of hectares of farmland are under water. The government of Giorgia Meloni, struggling with essential savings measures, should release, as a first step, at least 100 million euros in emergency aid for the disaster areas of Emilia-Romagna: a region considered "the orchard of Italy", where the damage, still unquantifiable, promises to be record. Six months of rain fell in just 36 hours last week, bursting two dozen rivers from their banks, turning streets into rivers of mud and submerging vast tracts of farmland and numerous livestock farms. These movements of water and earth led to the discovery of 14 old bombs that were eliminated by the army's artificers. "In recent days we found 14 military bombs, most of which could not explode, but as a precaution the army artificers detonated them all," a local military source told AFP, without being able to specify which war the bombs dated. The agricultural union Coldiretti has issued an alert about this problem, as the passage of tractors is likely to trigger an explosion.

600 roads closed

In addition to the loss of life, Emilia-Romagna, one of Italy's richest regions that alone contributes nearly 10% of the national GDP, has suffered economic damage that is impossible to quantify precisely at this stage. According to the farmers' union Confagricoltura, at least 10 million fruit trees will have to be uprooted, a figure that could even reach 40 million. More than 600 roads were still closed on Monday, with the region estimating over the weekend that around €620 million was needed to restore the road network. Schools in Ravenna reopened on Tuesday but those in the nearby town of Forli will not reopen until Wednesday, as roads are still impassable. The president of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, has immediately called for a freeze on mortgage repayments, taxes and taxes for families and businesses in the most affected areas and in the longer term a comprehensive plan "for the reconstruction, maintenance and security of the territory". According to experts, human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts and forest fires, but also storms accompanied by heavy rains.