Alert in Milan after the Seveso river overflows: "It has grown rapidly beyond the flood threshold"

The Italian city of Milan (north) is in a state of alert this Tuesday after the Seveso River has overflowed, causing flooding in the north of the town, after a violent storm with lightning and thunder, as well as strong winds, recorded this morning.

The Civil Protection of the Lombardy region has decreed the alert in the second city of the country, after the heavy rains, with 75 mm per hour, caused in just two hours the flooding of the river to flood the neighborhood of Niguarda, which has forced the closure of streets, adjacent roads and underpasses.

In Como, the level of its famous lake “has risen rapidly beyond the flood threshold” and mobile barriers have already been installed to prevent the water from reaching the population, since “during the day it is destined to rise”, explained on social networks the Civil Protection of the Lombard town, very close to the Swiss border.

Alert from Monday

In addition, the Veneto region is today on red alert due to the hydrological risk caused by the strong storm that has hit northern Italy in recent hours and that this Monday already caused serious problems in Emilia-Romagna, where several bridges and numerous schools were closed.

Five other regions are on orange alert, the second level of alert: Lombardy – whose capital is Milan, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria and Trentino Adigne, while in Venice the “acqua alta” phenomenon, which floods the city of the canals, has reached 154 centimeters and the Brenner motorway is closed on the border with Austria due to a landslide.

Although the unexpected announcement of the overflow of the Seveso by the Councilor for Security and Civil Protection, Marco Granelli, caught the city unexpectedly, no personal injuries have been caused, according to public television RAI, which has shown images of areas of the city completely flooded and where water runs violently through the streets.

In addition to the Seveso, which reached 2.92 meters, the course of the Lambro is monitored, whose level is high, but under control thanks to the opening of the locks, while the residents of the Lambro Park area have been evacuated As a precaution, the police and firefighters are working tirelessly to prevent as much damage as possible.

The rains were accompanied this morning by strong gusts of wind that knocked down trees and scaffolding and caused some electrical blackouts, although at the moment no major collapses have been verified.

Weather forecasts predict an improvement in the situation in the coming hours, while the storm will move to the center and south of the country, where temperatures have been high despite the last few hours, with 34 degrees in Palermo (Sicily) and 28 in Rome.

“These large differences are due to the sirocco winds that blow throughout the country, fueling strong tides along the exposed coasts and the air is expected to noticeably strengthen its intensity over Italy, particularly in the upper Adriatic, with gusts hurricane in Polesine, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, according to the specialized site meteoweb.