LUGO (VG) This is the new normal.
Rescue workers are going from house to house to see if there are any residents left who they want to evacuate from the floods that have hit northern Italy.
They bring the life raft to one of the houses surrounded by water. In the garden, the blooming flowers drowned out.
Four days have passed since record floods filled streets, homes and basements.
Valeria Pavani is raising her 21-month-old daughter, Beatrice.
The rescue crew receives her and brings her aboard the lifeboat.
– says Valaria, the last few days have been very scary.
When the children ran out of food and clothes, they made the difficult decision to flee their homes.
She fears this is just the beginning.
– What happened here is not an isolated case. This is evidence of climate change.
– I’m afraid of the future. We don’t have a home anymore.
Two days ago. The streets are pitch black because the electricity has been cut off.
Brown-green water rises to life.
Neighbors desperately try to pump the water away, but to no avail. Arriving rescue workers fill a boat with water and supplies, then begin going from house to house.
The extreme weather has already hit Italy hard.
Last year was the hottest year on record in Italy.
The floods that hit Italy this week were described as the worst in 100 years.
New severe weather records are constantly being set in Europe as the globe warms due to man-made climate change.
– We have to prepare. This is a climate crisis, Pierluigi Randi, of the Italian Climate Experts Association, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, about floods like them this week.
At least 13 people were killed and 36,000 displaced after sudden rains caused 23 rivers to overflow their banks.
The flood has been described as “the end of the world.”
41 towns and villages have been affected by floods in northern Italy. As much precipitation in 36 hours as it normally does in six months.
– Climate change is happening here and now, and we are witnessing the consequences, says Paola Pino Destor of the Italian geological organization Sigea.
The affected regions of Italy are home to vineyards and well-known tourist gems. Many people in the region are worried about how this year’s tourist season will be affected.
– Come here! Drink wine with us!
Stephane Capri, 53, stands with a bottle of wine in his hand, with rubber boots strapped to his ankles.
He just managed to save red wine from the bodies of water.
The flood waters reached the level of the cork, so good wine from the Romania region had to be consumed.
He pours a glass of wine to the neighbors who have gathered, the envoys of the VG.
The mood rises in line with the level of alcohol in the blood, But soon he is bombarded with questions about how they are doing.
– It’s like being in the crater of an atomic bomb. Stefan says it’s unrealistic, and I’m afraid it will happen again.
When the flood reached them, the water seeped through the wooden floor.
– We didn’t know when it would stop.
Now four people, four cats and a dog share the floor, which survived the flood. Electricity and toilet not working.
– But we were lucky. The water rose only 22 cm along the walls, but in the center they had 1.2 meters of water inside their homes.
Paolo Benazzi (69) He picks up a pot full of mud, but his heart problems mean he has to take a break.
– I’m 69 years old, I’ve never experienced anything like this.
Penazzi is certain that it is man-made climate change that has wreaked havoc on his home and town.
– Usually in the summer we had 28-30 degrees, but in recent years it has been 40 degrees here. And now in May it’s cold. It is very strange and unusual.
when the flood was At its height it reached his chest.
– It pains me to leave the condition of the country to posterity.
As he speaks, volunteers work to shovel mud from his house.
It is clear that more must be done to combat climate change.
It’s scary to think what might happen if we keep going like this.
flood him It particularly affected the elderly and those who could not escape.
Many climbed onto the roofs of their homes and had to be rescued by helicopter, but there were also many who were unable to save their lives when severe weather suddenly set in.
- An 80-year-old man drowned in his basement while trying to save his belongings.
- A couple is swept away by the flood. The body of the 70-year-old woman was carried away by bodies of water and found two miles away.
- A 76-year-old man died in his garden when he was hit by a landslide.
Climate researcher Kari Altusker Researcher in extreme weather and floods at the Climate Research Center, Cicero.
She was certainly not surprised by what she had seen in Italy in recent days.
Before the flood hit Italy, there was a drought for several months.
As the temperature rises, the air also gets warmer. Then there will be a lot of water vapor in the air, and when severe weather happens, more water will be released, she says on the phone to VG.
When the earth dries out, the soil cannot remove water as quickly as when it rains in large amounts.
Then it can quickly overflow.
– Floods can be very dangerous, because they can come very quickly. It is difficult to report.
In recent weeks both Italy and other neighboring countries such as Spain and France have witnessed the climate crisis at close range.
Drought destroyed farmers, lakes shrank, forest fires broke out, olive trees died, and sources of drinking water disappeared.
– It is quite obvious that this will become more and more popular. Not only are these events increasing in frequency, but also in intensity.
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