ROME - A relentless wave of bad weather has caused at least fifteen deaths across Italy since Sunday Oct. 28. Landslides and mudflows near Belluno, northern Italy, have isolated several towns and blocked the regional road 203 linking Cencenighe and Agordo. Damages to the wider Veneto region have reportedly cost over one billion euros.

 “We are on our knees” said Veneto Governor Luca Zaia. “The closure of all schools has been scheduled. I’ve been forced to demand help from the National Civil Protection Department, and have asked banks to provide special funding.” He has also requested for tax and mortgage payments to be suspended, and recently called upon Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to enforce assistance measures.

 Four people were killed on Thursday, Nov. 1. In Lillianes, a town in the Aosta Valley region, a huge chestnut fell on a passing car, killing its two elderly occupants (aged 73 and 74). An 81-year-old man was also killed in Antermoia, after falling onto the roof of a hut in the very same place where a volunteer firefighter was killed on Sunday night.

 A 53-year-old man has died in Bolzano Hospital after being seriously injured in a road accident near Latsch in the Venosta Valley. He was found inside an overturned car that had been severely damaged by heavy branches.

 The bad weather in Lombardy also killed an 85-year-old man on Wednesday Oct. 31. He was found tangled in tree branches, after reportedly being swept away by an overflowing river.

 The Civil Protection Department has put Venice on red alert, while Lombardy, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and Campania, Abruzzo, Molise and Sicily have been put on orange alert.

 Torrential rain caused the wall of a hotel to collapse in Casamicciola, a municipality in Naples. Debris was sent flying into Piazza Marina, public entry to which was consequently blocked off by Police. A van driver was also recently rescued after having been trapped in floods in Panza, a town on the island of Ischia. Another person was rescued in Miliscola in the Phlegraean Fields after being blocked by floods.

 Mountains in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley have been covered in snow, which has reached levels as high as half a metre in Breuil-Cervinia. Ski slopes are to be opened in the area on Saturday Oct. 3.

 Trees have been felled in Trentino, while in Veneto rivers have burst their banks. Almost 16,800 people have been left without electricity in the Belluna area, and 100,000 without drinkable water in Polesine. Thousands of buildings have been destroyed from north to south of the country.

 Violent waves and winds have sunk luxury yachts in Rapallo, raising environmental concerns about pollution. Liguria Governor Giovanni Toti has expressed concern that damages will amount to over 100 million euros.

 Bad weather has even been reported in southern Italy. Cars have been trapped in tunnels in Palermo where water has reached a depth of over half a metre. Rome too has experienced torrential rain, resulting in the closures of churches and metro stations.

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