Saturday, November 4, 2023

Flood Emergency in Tuscany

The latest storm to move through Europe left much damage in its wake. Storm Ciaran gained strength as it moved through England and then France, leaving more than one million people in the latter without electricity and mourning several deaths. 

When the storm hit Italy, it started with some wind damage along the northern regions - dangerous waves along the Riviera and some resulting flooding that increased in severity as it made its way down to Livorno (south of Pisa). 

Ciaran then picked up more steam as it proved too much for Lake Como and the Siveso River, prompting widespread flooding. 



The storm then moved through Tuscany, dropping about eight inches of rain in a three-hour period in the wee hours of November 3. The town of Campi Bisenzio (northwest of Florence) faced what may have been the worst of the storm, though the larger city of Milan took its share of damage as well.

Ultimately, the Italian government declared a state of emergency and allocated millions of Euros to fund the initial phase of cleanup. Meanwhile, at least six people died and many more lost their homes and livelihoods, leaving communities devastated on many levels.


This has been the second deadly storm for Italy in 2023, the previous hitting the Emilia Romagna region, where it displaced thousands of people and killed nearly one dozen. Communities are still recovering from the billions of Euros worth of damage.