Standing outside her home under moody skies in Ronta, a hamlet in the Forlì-Cesena area of Emilia-Romagna, Ivana Casadei considers herself one of the lucky ones. “The water only came as far as our garden,” said the 61-year-old. “But my neighbours’ home was destroyed, so they are now staying with us – there are eight of us living together, and five dogs.”
Emilia-Romagna remained on red alert on Sunday after catastrophic flooding that claimed 14 lives and left more than 36,000 people homeless. The emergency, which wreaked havoc across 100 cities and towns – many still under water – prompted the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, to return early from the G7 summit in Japan. A helicopter that had been attempting to restore electricity to homes crashed close to the badly affected town of Lugo on Saturday, injuring one of the four people onboard. “Frankly, I cannot remain so far from Italy in such a complex moment,” said Meloni, who visited some of the flooded areas on Sunday afternoon and pledged support to help the recovery.
