ROME, Nov 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from Storm Ciaran rose to at least 15 across Western Europe, as heavy downpours and record winds brought chaos to land, sea and air travel.
At least six people died in Tuscany, Italian authorities announced, declaring a state of emergency as weather specialists reported record rainfall.
Another three people were killed off the coast of Portugal when a sailboat ran aground north of Lisbon in strong swells.
In Italy, the rescue services were called out to dozens of incidents across Tuscany to help motorists stranded in flooded tunnels or hemmed in by trees brought down by the winds.
Tuscany governor Eugenio Giani said the five dead in the Italy storms included an 85-year-old man found drowned on the ground floor of his house in Montemurlo, northwest of Florence.
“What happened tonight in Tuscany has a name: climate change,” Giani wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Residents were busy Friday mucking out homes, garages and cellars swamped by the floodwaters, throwing damaged furniture and appliances onto the street.
Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella described the situation as “critical” in the city, as the level of the Arno River continued to rise.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced an initial state aid package of €5 million for the region as she confirmed a state of emergency to fast-track funding and resources.
Trees felled by gale-force winds caused several of the deaths in Europe. In the Belgian city of Ghent, a five-year-old Ukrainian boy and a 64-year-old woman were killed by falling branches.
Falling trees had earlier killed a lorry driver in his vehicle in northern France’s Aisne region, and French officials also reported the death of a man who fell from his balcony in the port city of Le Havre as the storm hammered the French coast.
Three people aboard the Danish-flagged sailboat that capsized off a beach at Torres Vedras north of Lisbon were found dead on the shore near the boat’s wreckage, a navy spokesperson said.
A man in the Dutch town of Venray, a woman in central Madrid and a person in Germany were also killed.
Some 1.2 million French homes lost electricity as the storm lashed the northwest coast. French President Emmanuel Macron visited the storm-battered region of Brittany on Friday, his office said.
The wind gusts in the western Brittany region were “exceptional” and “many absolute records have been broken”, national weather service Meteo-France said on X.
Rail services in western parts of the country would remain disrupted on Friday, said Transport Minister Clement Beaune. — NNN-AGENCIES
