As the torrential rain and record winds brought by Storm Ciarán continue to wreak havoc across western Europe, the provisional death toll has risen to 15. The storm, driven by a powerful jet stream, has left a trail of destruction in its wake, claiming the lives of at least six people in central Italy and three in Portugal.
In Tuscany, the situation is described as “really very serious” by Eugenio Giani, the president of the region. A state of emergency was declared on Friday, as the Arno River had threatened to flood the historic city of Florence. However, the high water point had passed without major incident by mid-morning.
Tragedy struck elsewhere in Tuscany, where a bridge collapsed near the city of Pistoia, killing two people. An elderly man was found drowned on the ground floor of his care home in the town of Montemurlo, while another two victims were elderly residents of the same town.
The mayor of Prato, Matteo Biffoni, described the damage caused by the storm as “a blow to the stomach and makes you want to cry.” The city’s Santo Stefano hospital was engulfed with water, and Biffoni vowed that the city would “roll up its sleeves to clean and try to bring our city back to normal.”
Effects of Storm CiaránIn Portugal, two women and a man were killed when their sailing boat capsized off the coast of Lisbon in heavy seas. The northern coastal regions of the country had been placed on red alert, with waves exceeding seven metres.
The Italian authorities are still searching for several people missing in Tuscany and the Veneto region, while about 48,000 people remain without electricity. The prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has announced an initial state aid package of €5m to help the worst-hit areas.
The storm has also caused widespread damage in other parts of Europe, with at least seven people killed elsewhere on Thursday, almost all by falling trees, amid winds that reached 124mph. In Italy, the regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and Lombardy have been severely affected, with schools closed and people evacuated from their homes in rubber dinghies.
Scientists have explained that Storm Ciarán was an unusual “bomb cyclone,” where explosive intensification leads to exceptionally strong winds. It was also unusual in producing both heavy rain and high winds over large areas. Dr. Colin Manning and Dr. Hayley Fowler of Newcastle University in the UK warn that such storms are likely to become more frequent due to the climate crisis, and that countries must build more resilient infrastructure alongside drastically cutting emissions.
As the effects of climate breakdown continue to be felt, Italy is seen as particularly exposed to the impacts of extreme weather events. In May, 14 people died and thousands were left homeless after flooding in Emilia-Romagna, and authorities are bracing themselves for more severe weather events in the future.