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WEATHER

Three people injured as lightning strikes beach in Italy’s Abruzzo region

Three people were injured, one of them seriously, when lightning struck a beach packed with holidaymakers on Italy's Adriatic coast on Saturday, news reports said.

Published: 3 August 2024 17:09 CEST
People enjoy the beach in Fiumicino, Italy
Three beachgoers were struck by lightning on Saturday, according to media reports. Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

The bolt of lightning hit the stretch of beach near Alba Adriatica, in the central Abruzzo region, just after midday, wrote the ANSA news agency, which said that the beach was crowded at the time despite cloudy skies and bursts of rain.

Photos posted on social media showed emergency workers crowded around what appeared to be a woman on a stretcher on the beach.

ANSA reported that three women were hit, with the most serious a local woman who suffered a heart attack and was resuscitated on the beach. She was then taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where she remained in intensive care.

A second woman, who ANSA identified as Belgian, temporarily lost feeling in her legs and was also receiving treatment in hospital, along with a third woman who also experienced paralysis in one leg.

Local authorities could not be immediately reached by AFP.

Earlier news reports had said that as many as seven people had been struck by the lightning bolt.

The civil protection department warned on Saturday of unstable weather conditions in central Italy, with scattered thunderstorms and “frequent electrical activity”.

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STORMS

Italy issues storm alerts for nine regions

Italy’s Civil Protection department issued a ‘yellow’ weather warning for nine regions on Wednesday as intense storms that lashed large parts of the country on Tuesday were expected to continue.

Published: 4 September 2024 08:34 CEST
Italy issues storm alerts for nine regions

The alert was set to cover parts or the whole of the following regions: Lombardy, Piedmont, Calabria, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Marche, Molise, Umbria and Campania.

A ‘yellow’ warning is the least severe type of alert under Italy’s alert system, but still indicates some level of risk. 

River levels in the affected areas are likely to rise rapidly and waterways could become flooded, as could nearby underpasses, tunnels, and basement-level structures, according to Italy’s Civil Protection.

A map of the weather alerts issued by Italy’s Civil Protection on Wednesday, September 4th

A map of the weather alerts issued by Italy’s Civil Protection on Wednesday, September 4th. Source: Italy’s Civil Protection department

Intense storms were expected in the centre and south of the country, particularly along the Apennines and on the Adriatic coastline, from the early afternoon, forecasters said.

Heavy rainfall was expected to be accompanied by strong winds on coastal areas.

The northwest of the country, including parts of Piedmont and Lombardy, was also set to be hit by storms, with Alpine areas expected to be among the worst hit.

Wednesday’s weather warnings were issued after multiple areas of the country were lashed by storms on Tuesday. 

Torrential rain hit Rome on Tuesday afternoon, causing flooding in some areas of the city centre, including Termini, Prati, and Piazza Risorgimento, close to the Vatican, and forcing transport operator Atac to temporarily close the Manzoni and Lepanto stops on metro line A, according to Ansa.

Rome’s Environment Councillor Sabrina Alfonsi said that “60 millimetres of rain fell in central Rome in less than an hour, the same amount that typically accumulates over an entire month in autumn”.

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