Italy battered by bad weather

Chaos has broken out in central and southern regions of the peninsula.

Strong winds in Naples caused scaffolding to collapse and fall onto cars parked along via Cesario Console, just moments away from the city’s famous Piazza del Plebiscito. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident, although a number of vehicles were damaged.  Weather conditions are even worse in nearby Capri, where gales have been reported and transport services to and from the island halted. Hydrofoil services to Ischia, another island in the Bay of Naples, have been temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure.

Sadly, conditions have proved far more dangerous near Lucca, in Tuscany, where sources report that a 41 year-old man was hit and subsequently killed after a boulder fell onto his car. The other passenger is said to have escaped unharmed. Also in Tuscany, strong winds have brought down a section of the city walls in Prato.

Meanwhile, trees were uprooted by storms in the Marche region, leading to the death of a 49 year-old woman who was hit by one on her way to work in Urbino. In the same town, two others have been injured by falling branches.

A gas pipeline is in flames in the Pineto region of Abruzzo after a landslide caused by bad weather led to a series of three explosions, which in turn resulted in the blaze. Officials report that three locals are in hospital, one of whom is seriously injured. 

Wind and rain are not the only severe conditions to have affected Italy, however, as Molise has been brought to a standstill after almost 24 hours of snowfall, with snow reportedly up to half a metre deep in the province of Campobasso and even deeper in the region’s mountainous areas. Schools have been closed as a result and power supplies have been interrupted.

Storms have also caused power cuts in approximately 13,000 homes across Umbria.