Heavy rain caused rivers to overflow and flooded streets around Florence, Italy, on Friday. Authorities issued a red weather alert for Florence and told people to stay indoors. Eugenio Giani, the leader of the central Tuscany region, warned residents to be very careful as intense rain was expected all day.
Due to the bad weather, popular places like the Uffizi Galleries, a famous museum, and the Duomo church closed early. Firefighters shared pictures of cars almost submerged in Sesto Fiorentino, a town north of Florence. There were over 500 firefighters helping in Tuscany, with many emergency efforts planned or already underway.
A local weather expert stated that about 60 millimeters of rain fell in Sesto Fiorentino between 6:00 AM and noon. To put that in perspective, Florence usually gets about 70 millimeters of rain in the entire month of March. This means that a month’s worth of rain fell in just six hours!
Schools, parks, and cemeteries in Florence and nearby Prato were closed after warnings were issued on Thursday. Giani mentioned that they opened floodgates to reduce pressure on the Arno River, which runs through Florence and Pisa. The river was expected to reach its highest level in the early evening.
Alessio Mantellassi, the mayor of a nearby town called Empoli, said this situation is worse than a past flood in 2019 and is one of the toughest times they have faced. In Pisa, soldiers helped by placing sandbags to protect against the flooding.
Nearby, in Emilia Romagna, authorities also issued a red warning because heavy rains had already swollen rivers there. The president of Emilia Romagna stated there was very strong weather on Friday morning and warned everyone to stay alert, as the area has faced floods in the past. Scientists have cautioned that climate change makes extreme weather events like floods more likely.
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