LAST UPDATE | 17 May 2023

THE EMILIA Romagna Formula One Grand Prix due to be held at Imola this weekend has been called off as it is “not possible to safely hold the event” due to heavy flooding in the region, organisers said today.

Eight people have died after heavy rains caused flooding across Italy’s northern Emilia Romagna region, forced the evacuation of 5,000 and suspended some train services. 

Residents in northern Italy have been told to get to higher ground amid fears rain-swollen rivers will again burst their banks.

At Imola, the Santerno river which borders the track was flooded and race organisers had asked journalists and team staff not to go to the circuit on Wednesday.

Formula One said in a statement that following high-level discussions “the decision has been taken not to proceed with the Grand Prix weekend at Imola”.

“The decision has been taken because it is not possible to safely hold the event for our fans, the teams and our personnel and it is the right and responsible thing to do given the situation faced by the towns and cities in the region,” it added.

“It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.”

The civil protection agency said 14 rivers had broken their banks across the region between Tuesday and today, and 23 towns were flooded.

It urged “maximum caution”, as mayors warned people to stay on high ground.

Italian civil protection minister Nello Musemeci called for a new nationwide hydraulic engineering plan to adapt to the impact of increasing incidents of floods and landslides.

At a briefing, he said an average of 200mm of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the region, with some areas registering 500mm in that period.

“If you consider that this region averages 1,000mm of rain in a year, you realise the impact that these rains have had in these hours,” Musemeci said.

Citing the November landslide in Ischia, which killed a dozen people, Musemeci said Italy is increasingly experiencing Africa-style tropical weather, with long periods of drought punctuated by intense rainfall that can’t be absorbed by the soil.

“Nothing will ever be the same again … and what has happened in these hours is evidence of that,” Musemeci said.

“When soil remains dry for a long time, instead of increasing its absorption capacity, it ends up cementing and allowing rainfall to continue flowing over the surface and causing absolutely unimaginable damage.”

The mayor of the city of Cesena, Enzo Lattuca, posted a video on Facebook early on Wednesday to say he continued downpours in the Emilia-Romagna region could flood the Savio river and smaller tributaries for a second day.

He urged residents to move to upper floors of their homes and avoid low-lying areas and riverbanks.

He announced the closure to traffic of some bridges and streets after rivers of mud sloshed through town and into basements and shops.

Museumeci said that 5,000 people had been evacuated, 50,000 were without electricity, and more than 100,000 were without mobile phone or landline use.

‘They are heroes’

In Forli, an AFP photographer saw people in a state of shock late Tuesday, fleeing through floodwaters in the dark in their bare feet.

Images showed streets transformed into rivers, and firemen moving people to safety in rubber dinghies.

Elsewhere, muddy waters rushed at great speed under the arches of the covered walkways in Bologna, while locals in Cesena swam down a road to rescue a three-year-old child.

“We absolutely must not lower our guard,” Cesena mayor Enzo Lattuca said on Facebook.

Residents “must not under any account go into basements or cellars”, and should “stay out of ground floors if possible”, he said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday tweeted her support for those affected and said the government was “ready to intervene with the necessary aid”.

Some areas saw almost 300 millimetres of rain in just a few hours, Repubblica daily said.

Much of northern Italy suffered a drought last winter, on top of a record lack of rain last summer that ruined harvests.

However, spring has been wetter and colder than normal across the country.

For Formula One President and CEO Stefano Domenicali, the floods affected him personally.

“It is such a tragedy to see what has happened to Imola and Emilia-Romagna, the town and region that I grew up in, and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the flooding and the families and communities affected,” he said in a statement.

“I want to express my gratitude and admiration for the incredible emergency services who are working tirelessly to help those who need help and alleviate the situation.

“They are heroes and the whole of Italy is proud of them.”

– © AFP 2023

Written by AFP and posted on the42.ie