Rivers swollen by days of downpours flooded some towns in northern Italy on Tuesday, while in Venice, authorities were preparing to activate a mobile barrier in the lagoon in hopes of sparing the city from high-tide flooding, which would be rare in May.
In the tourist town of Ravenna in northeast Italy, authorities urged residents to move to upper stories of buildings to ride out the storm. In Riccione, a beach town on the Adriatic Sea, the mayor warned people to stay home as some took to rubber dinghies to navigate streets.
