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Italian firefighters rescued 25 people trapped on the French side of a high mountain pass caused by severe flooding that killed two people in Italy, while 15 were trapped in a train station overnight and eight more remained missing on Saturday. (local time) in France. .
Storm Alex moved overnight through southeastern France into northwestern Italy, causing major flooding on both sides of the border, destroying bridges, blocking roads and isolating communities.
Fire Department / AP
A building collapsed along the Cervo River due to heavy rains in Biella, northern Italy.
In Italy, a firefighter died during a rescue operation in the mountainous region of northern Val d’Aosta. A search team found a body in the Vercelli province of the Piedmont region, where a man had been washed away by floods on Friday night.
Italian firefighters used a helicopter to transport 17 people to safety from the French city of Vievola, including a woman with two grandchildren. An excavator brought eight other people who managed to climb the Col de Tende, a high mountain pass that links France and Italy, to a tunnel.
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15 more people were taking refuge at the Vievola train station after the operation to rescue them was postponed until dawn.
Italian fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari said they were searching for a missing shepherd who was washed away in the floodwaters in Col de Tende. His brother managed to grab onto a tree and was saved, while the authorities searched the French side for the shepherd.
The situation in the tunnel in the high mountain pass was complicated by the fact that French emergency services cannot access its side due to the damage caused by the floods, Cari said.
The incessant rains overnight reached levels not seen since 1958 in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, where up to 630 millimeters of rain fell in a 24-hour period, according to the Italian civil protection agency.
Claudio Furlan / AP
People wear fisherman’s boots in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, northern Italy, during an unexpected tide.
Hundreds of rescue operations were carried out. 11 campers were spared in Vercelli province, where flooding reached 20-year highs. And the alpine rescue squads have evacuated on foot seven people who were in houses isolated by the floods in Terme di Valdieri; some had to be transported on stretchers due to mud and accumulation of debris.
Across the border, in southeastern France, almost a year’s average rainfall fell in less than 12 hours in the mountainous area surrounding the city of Nice. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said more than 100 houses were destroyed or severely damaged in the area.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who flew over the area by helicopter, confirmed that at least eight people were missing in France, including two firefighters whose vehicle was washed away when a road collapsed.
“I cannot hide our grave concern about the final toll,” Castex said.
Many concerned families had not heard from their relatives because cell phone services were cut off in the area.
“As I speak, the priority is finding victims, providing supplies and shelter to affected people and reestablishing communications.”
Alessandra Tarantino / AP
The silhouette of a lone spectator against rain clouds as he passes the matches of the third round of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France.
The rescue efforts included 871 people working on the ground, as well as military helicopters and troops that assisted with emergency assistance, Castex said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday expressed his gratitude to the rescuers on Twitter. “Together we will get through this,” he said.
France’s national meteorological agency Meteo France said up to 500 millimeters of rain was recorded in some areas, the equivalent of nearly a year of average rainfall.
Meteo France issued a danger alert on Friday and all schools in the region had been closed. Local authorities urged people to stay home.
In central Switzerland, flooding along the Reuss River caused the closure of a section of the A2 motorway, a major trans-Alpine route. Further east, 13 residents were evacuated from their homes in the city of Diesbach due to the flooding.
Barry, reporting from Milan, Italy, and Geir Moulson, in Berlin, Germany contributed to the story.
