A violent storm causes destruction in southern Italy. Its consequences have so far claimed at least three lives. The storm should even intensify.
Update from Thursday, October 28, 2021, 2:26 p.m.: In the devastating storm with floods on the island of Sicily in Italy, rescue workers recovered the body of a missing woman, reports the dpa news agency. The death toll from the Mediterranean hurricane has risen to three.
According to the rescue workers, the woman is said to have got out of the car on Sunday (October 24th, 2021), like her husband, and was hit by the masses of water. Her body was discovered about five kilometers from the car, the police in Catania announced on Thursday (October 28, 2021). Her husband had previously been found dead about two kilometers away. On Tuesday (October 26th, 2021) another man died in Catania because he too got out of the car and was then pushed underneath by the water.
And the island of Sicily is already expecting the next bad weather front: According to dpa, several Italian media reports that the Italian island could reach a so-called medicane on Thursday evening or Friday morning. Such a “Mediterranean Hurricane” is a cyclone in the Mediterranean.
Mediterranean hurricane near the island of Sicily in Italy: Weather service with poor forecast
Update from Thursday, October 28, 2021, 1:44 p.m.: The rare Mediterranean hurricane over the Italian island of Sicily has been causing heavy rain since Sunday (October 24, 2021), especially in the eastern regions around the city of Catania. And it should even get worse again, says meteorologist Sebastian Altnau from the German Weather Service (DWD) of the Frankfurter Rundschau: “According to current forecasts, the low will continue to intensify until Friday and take on tropical traits.”
The weather expert explains the reason for the massive flooding of the past few days as follows: “The low over the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily has been relatively stationary there in the past few days.” Over a period of around 48 hours, amounts of rain of around 600 liters per square meter have been measured, according to Altnau. In a larger area around the Etna volcano, values of 150 to 300 liters per square meter were recorded.
Storm and floods in Sicily: Better weather only on Saturday and Sunday
The subtropical low is currently off the coast of Libya and is slowly moving to Sicily, as Altnau says. In the east and north of the island, according to weather models from the DWD, there will be rain amounts of between 100 and 250 liters per square meter up to and including Saturday – with thunderstorms also around 300 liters per square meter. “Here again floods are to be expected,” warns the DWD meteorologist. In addition, there could be strong winds up to hurricane gusts.
The low should only weaken on Saturday and Sunday, according to Altnau. Then it should move back to the southeast. Until then, however, the storm will not affect the Etna volcano, which erupted at almost the same time last Sunday. “There is no interaction here that I am aware of,” says the weather expert.
Mediterranean hurricane floods parts of the island of Sicily: will it still rain until the weekend?
Update from Wednesday, October 27th, 2021, 11.00 a.m.: A very rare Mediterranean hurricane has flooded parts of the island of Sicily in Italy. Heavy rains have been causing chaos since Sunday (October 24th, 2021), especially in the regional capital Catania. There streets turned into traveling rivers, as video recordings circulating on Twitter show.
At least two people have been killed so far. The two men died, according to reports from Sky Italia, while they were sitting in the car or trying to get out of it.
Salvatore Pogliese, Mayor of the City of Catania, has now ordered all shops to be closed. According to its own information, the fire brigade has been in action more than 400 times since Sunday. An easing of the situation is not yet in sight. Weather services expect rains in Sicily until the weekend. The responsible low pressure area over the Mediterranean area moves very slowly due to the high water temperatures.
First report from Tuesday, October 26th, 2021, 5.30 p.m.: Catania – In the south of Italy there have been violent storms and floods in the past few days. The massive rains in Sicily and Calabria * caused destruction, with a first fatality confirmed, as reported by merkur.de. Due to the critical situation, schools were also closed and dozens of flights canceled.
The frightening images from southern Italy show flooded streets and village squares and are reminiscent of the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia. Cars are submerged or washed away. Winds with speeds of 100 kilometers per hour and heavy rainfall create chaos. Within a few hours, as much rain fell in southern Italy as in the past six months. Hundreds of firefighters were deployed on Monday (October 25th, 2021). On the same day, civil protection declared a “red alert” in Sicily.
Fatalities after “Mediterranean hurricanes” in southern Italy
The city of Scordia saw the first casualty from the storm in what some call a “Mediterranean hurricane”. The 67-year-old man was in a rural area and went missing along with his 65-year-old wife, Periodicoitaliano.it reported. There was still no information about their whereabouts.
On Tuesday (October 26th, 2021) the excessive rainfall and strong winds did not decrease. Catania was hit by a violent storm that flooded the old town. Power failures and further destruction are the result. The extreme weather should not decrease in the next few days either.
Italy: Extreme storms in Sicily and Calabria
The reason for the extreme weather is a low pressure area that does not move from the site. Therefore, the situation in the south of Italy will remain critical in the coming days, as the portal gazzettadelsud.it reported. While the weather in Sicily should calm down a bit, there will continue to be heavy rain and wind, especially in Calabria.
Italy only had to struggle with floods in August: landslides and mudslides occurred in the north of the country. (vbu) * merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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