Extreme weather is a major problem for the emergency services in the Mediterranean region. The heat record could fall in Spain.
Rome / Madrid / Istanbul – In the vicinity of the Italian capital Rome, the fire brigade continued to fight forest fires on Friday evening.
The emergency services extinguished the fire from two fronts, as the fire brigade announced in the evening. A fire-fighting aircraft and two helicopters are also in use. The flames burned in the Monte Catillo nature reserve north of Tivoli. The city in eastern Rome is known for its Unesco World Heritage villas Villa d’Este and Villa Adrianna.
Italy’s president travels to Sardinia
Meanwhile, President Sergio Mattarella examined the situation in Sardinia. When visiting the air force in Alghero, the 80-year-old also flew over the forest fire area in the province of Oristano in the west of the island. “Seeing the devastation caused by the fires makes one understand the enormous extent of the damage to the lives of the affected communities,” said Mattarella. In the southern region of Calabria, many fires burned in the area around the Aspromonte National Park. So far there have been four deaths in connection with the forest fires.
In Sicily and Sardinia, civil defense downgraded the forest fire risk for Saturday in many provinces. Extreme heat and persistent drought have favored the flames since the end of July. The authorities suspect arson behind many of the fires.
Heat wave in Spain
In Spain, the worst heat wave of summer to date made millions of people sweat. On Friday, the values climbed well above the 40-degree mark in many areas of the country, including in the capital Madrid. As the weather service Aemet announced, 46.1 degrees were measured in the afternoon in the Andalusian province of Córdoba. The national record of 46.9 degrees recorded in Cordoba in July 2017 was within reach. “Saturday will be the worst day. It cannot be ruled out that the record will be broken, ”said an Aemet spokesman.
Aemet called out a red alert until Monday, especially for several areas in Andalusia. The extreme heat also hit the Spanish winemakers. In the Castile-La Mancha region, they had to start the grape harvest – which usually starts in September – early. The grapes were already very ripe, it was said.
Floods in Turkey
In Turkey’s Black Sea region, 38 people were killed in connection with flooding. Twelve people would be treated in the hospital, said the disaster control agency Afad. The three provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu and Sinop are particularly affected. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Kastamonu on Friday and said the destroyed places would be replaced by “better ones”. dpa
