A storm that brought heavy rain and violent winds to Northern Italy overnight and early Tuesday sent rapid floods through central Milan and caused Lake Como to breach its banks. Several waterside bars were flooded at the lake — a popular tourist attraction — while civil protection authorities were forced to pump out water from areas nearby and erect mobile barriers. The Seveso, a river that runs through the municipalities of Como, Monza e Brianza and Milan, also broke its banks, according to Italy’s civil protection agency. Parts of Milan became inaccessible, while social media posts showed water gushing down stairs into underground train stations and pedestrians falling down or clinging to poles during strong gusts of wind. The city’s safety councilor, Marco Granelli, said the winds felled trees, tore down scaffolding and ripped off roof tiles. Electricity was cut in several parts of the city as a precaution while authorities worked to clean up downed power lines. Tuscany, in Central Italy, was also affected by heavy rainfall. Eugenio Giani, president of the region, said Tuscany experienced floods, fallen trees and landslides after 257 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours — more than the monthly average rainfall for this time of year. A tree fell on a car while it was moving, but the driver escaped unharmed. Italy is particularly vulnerable to climate change due to its geography, which puts it at high risk of landslides, and because it is surrounded by the warming Mediterranean Sea, which increases the chance of strong storms. Venice in the northeast also narrowly escaped flooding, according to the city’s Mayor Luigi Brugnaro. Strong winds blowing towards the north in the Adriatic Sea pushed water up into the city. Brugnaro said without the MOSE system of floodgates, which was active all night and throughout the day, the city would have experienced “record flooding” with 70% of its buildings under high water. The MOSE, which consists of 78 floodgates between the city lagoon system and the Adriatic sea, has been in place since 2020. Rain is expected to fall all over the country throughout the rest of the week. Italy’s civil protection agency put all areas of the Veneto region, which includes Venice, under red alert until Wednesday. The storm comes during a busy holiday season with more than 8 million Italians expected to travel this week. This year has been particularly deadly for flooding in Italy. In May, flooding in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna killed at least 14 people. More than 20 rivers broke their banks, causing hundreds of landslides, submerging homes and devastating farmland.(SD-Agencies) Words to Learn 相關詞匯 【抓緊】zhuājǐn cling to stick onto or hold something or someone tightly 【山體滑坡】shāntǐ huápō landslide a mass of rock and earth moving suddenly and quickly down a steep slope 一場暴風雨周一夜間周二早上席卷了意大利北部，米蘭市中心迅速被洪水淹沒，旅游勝地科莫湖也決堤了。 湖邊幾家酒吧被洪水淹沒，民防當局被迫從附近地區抽水，并架設了移動護欄。 意大利民防機構稱，流經科莫、蒙薩和布里安薩省和米蘭的塞維索河也決堤了。 米蘭部分地區無法通行，社交媒體上的帖子顯示，大水從樓梯涌入地鐵站，行人在強風中摔倒或緊緊抓住電線桿。 該市安全委員會委員馬可?格拉內利說，大風吹倒樹木，刮倒腳手架，還刮跑了屋頂瓦片。作為預防措施，當局切斷了該市多個地區的電力供應，正努力清理刮倒的電線。 意大利中部的托斯卡納也受到了暴雨影響。 托斯卡納大區主席尤金尼奧?賈尼說，該地區24小時內降雨量達到257毫米，超過這個季節的月平均降雨量，引發了洪水、樹木倒塌和山體滑坡。一棵樹砸到一輛行駛中的汽車，所幸司機安然無恙。 意大利的地理位置使其極易遭受山體滑坡，而周圍變暖的地中海也增加了強風暴發生的幾率，因此該國受氣候變化影響很大。 東北部的威尼斯市長路易吉?布魯納羅稱，該市也險些被洪水淹沒。從亞得里亞海吹來的強風將海水推向內陸。布魯納羅說，如果沒有日夜守護的MOSE閘門系統，該市將遭遇“創紀錄的洪水”，70% 的建筑將被淹沒。MOSE系統在城市瀉湖和亞得里亞海之間安裝了78 個水閘，2020年起投入使用。 預計本周剩余時間意大利全國將持續降雨。至本周三，民防機構將包括威尼斯在內的整個威內托大區列入紅色警戒狀態。 這場暴雨發生在繁忙的假日，預計本周有800多萬意大利人外出旅行。今年意大利的洪災尤其嚴重。北部艾米利亞?羅馬涅大區5月的洪水造成至少14人死亡，當時20多條河流決堤，造成數百處山體滑坡，房屋被淹，農田被毀。 (Translated by Debra) | 