Two people died Thursday, August 18, eighteen were injured and a hundred others evacuated, during a storm that tore trees and roofs in Tuscany, said the Italian region.
The civil protection agency has prepared emergency accommodation in schools and gymnasiums for people forced from their homes after high winds and torrential rain hit the region between the coast and the tourist city of Florence, killing a man in Lucca and a woman in Carrara.
Both were victims of falling trees, according to local media.
Responsible climate change
Four people were injured by falling trees at the seaside Marina di Massa campsite, while four others were rushed to hospital in the medieval town of Barga after the car they were in were hit by a torn roof, according to the local news site Toscana in Diretta.
Ten other people were slightly injured during these bad weather.
According to experts, climate change due to human activity 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.
A large part of the peninsula is affected by these storms: some fragments of the bell tower of Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice thus fell on Thursday.
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The municipality of Milan, for its part, decided to close the city's parks on Friday and asked citizens not to park their cars or on foot under trees and to make sure that nothing on their balconies can fall.
Lazio, the region of Rome, also forecast from Thursday evening and all day Friday showers accompanied by strong winds on its territory.