Storm alert for nine regions in Italy

Italy has been battered by storms in the last few hours, with risk warnings issued for several regions, according to the country's Civic Protection Agency.

The agency issued a storm alert for nine regions on Wednesday, including northern Piedmont, Lombardy, central Marche and Umbria, and southern Campania, Xinhua news agency reported.

Northwest Piedmont and southern Calabria were also put under an additional high risk alert for flooding.

The warning came after streets flooded in several cities on Tuesday, causing disruption to local transport. 

In Rome, the landmark Constantine Arch was damaged by lightning during a thunderstorm.

However, the damage was limited, and the fragments were retrieved and secured as soon as the storm ended on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, maintenance work began on Wednesday morning, according to the agency managing the site.

Heavy rains are expected to continue throughout the week. 

Local authorities have issued an orange warning (second most severe level) for hydrogeological risk in some areas of central Tuscany and the Emilia Romagna region on Thursday, while the municipality of Venice put the lagoon city under red alert (the highest level).

In August, the European Commission approved a 447-million-euro allocation from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to help Italy offset costs associated with severe storms and flooding in Italy last year. 

The funds, on Tuesday, come as Italy swelters through the third extended heatwave in three years. Each year, the country has struggled with droughts, floods, wildfires, and landslides.

This year, water shortages have spread across the southern part of the country; repeated fires have occurred in central and southern Italy, as well as urban areas including Rome; and farmer's union Coldiretti has recorded a negative impact on agricultural production nationwide.

Last week, a waterspout that climatologists said was likely caused by warming ocean temperatures sank a 56-metre luxury yacht, killing seven.

Earlier in the month, an Indian flower picker died in the fields of Latina, near Rome, during an intense hot spell, hitting international headlines.

In some parts of the country, especially in the island regions, high temperatures could again top 40 degrees Celsius. In central Italy, temperatures will peak at around 37 degrees Celsius.

Weather monitoring site Il Meteo said that in the coming days, hail may accompany hot weather in the northern part of the country, with storm and flood alerts being posted for the central regions.

Nevertheless, the severe weather so far this year has not been as bad as the flooding experienced by the central Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany last year. Flash floods there in May 2023 killed 17 and caused an estimated 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion) in damages. Another round of flooding in November 2023 caused eight more deaths and another 1.9 billion euros in damages.

On the same day, the EU also announced it would back the use of EUSF for Slovenia, Austria, Greece, and France, though Italy will receive the lion's share of the aid, amounting to nearly 46 per cent of the total amount approved for the five countries.

The money still needs to be approved by the European Parliament before it will be distributed to the affected areas.