Rome (EFE)
“While we mourn the three victims of these twenty-four hours, I feel that I have to thank the Firefighters, the Civil Protection officials and volunteers, the Police, the forestry workers and all those who mobilize in the most difficult trenches in these hours. Today we have to contain the damage, and there are many!” Musumeci added to the media.
In a radio interview, the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, assured that it was known “that today would be a very difficult day.”
“It is a complex situation but Civil Protection is mobilized, none of the firefighters went on vacation and I say this to thank these people for their work. We are following the situation minute by minute, which is delicate,” said Meloni.
Devastating storm in the north and three fatalities
A violent storm, accompanied by lightning and sudden gusts of wind, caused significant damage in the north of the country during the early morning and especially in Milan, where numerous streets have been flooded and dozens of trees have fallen.
The spectacular electrical storm that reached its peak at 4:00 local time (2:00 GMT) has left many streets of Milan impassable, which is why this morning there have been significant traffic and public transport problems.
The bad weather that is affecting northern Italy claimed its first victim on Monday in Lissone, in the province of Monza, when a tree fell on the car of a 58-year-old woman who was going to work.
Hours later, during the night, a young woman died from a fall from a tree while she was in a camp in the province of Brescia.
The third victim is an 88-year-old woman who died at her home in San Martino delle Scale, in the province of Palermo, where the ambulance could not arrive on time due to the fires.
Extreme heat and fires in Sicily
While the heat does not let up in the center and south of the country, reaching temperatures above 45 degrees in Sicily and Sardinia, now the main concern is fires.
The fires spread across the island of Sicily, in southern Italy. The situation is especially serious in the Palermo area where the flames are threatening the airport, which after being closed in the early hours of the morning opened at 11:00 am (09:00 GMT) only for departures.
In the province of Palermo, firefighters have worked throughout the early morning to try to extinguish the fires that have affected the towns of Alimenusa, Gangi, Blufi, Misilmeri, Cefalù Bolognetta, Santa Flavia, Villabate, Partinico, San Cipirrello and Corleone, where in some cases it was necessary to evacuate some homes affected by the flames while others were completely destroyed.
In total, 1,500 people have had to be evacuated due to the flames that threaten the entire peripheral mountainous area of the city, according to Civil Protection.
The Palermo-Messina motorway is closed in the section between Tusa and Sant’Agata di Militello, in both directions.
“The situation throughout Sicily continues to be very difficult, also due to the weather conditions that further complicate the work of those who must fight the flames,” said the president of the Sicily Region, Renato Schifani, who announced that they have asked for help for firefighters to arrive from other regions.
In addition, both in Catania and in Palermo there are several areas without water and electricity because the intense heat is causing overload problems in electrical services.