Rome - As the torrential rainfall of the last week finally began to ease off yesterday, the north-western Italian regions of Piedmont, Val d'Aosta and Liguria were counting the cost of flood damage, Paddy Agnew reports. The floods have, at the latest count, killed 13 people, leaving 18 unaccounted for and forced 25,000 to evacuate their homes.
Large parts of the three regions were under water following six days of torrential rain, with 70,000 people still cut off yesterday. Two more bodies were discovered in the debris of the Swiss village of Gondo, hit by a mudslide on Saturday, increasing the toll of flood-related deaths in southern Europe to over 20. The 40-metre wide wall of mud destroyed a third of the village, near the Italian border. Five people are confirmed dead, with 11 still missing.