Italian emergency workers searched house by house on the island of Sardinia today after a Mediterranean cyclone triggered flash floods, leaving 18 people dead and forcing thousands to seek emergency shelter.
Rivers broke their banks at the height of the storm yesterday, sweeping away bridges, bringing down power lines and flooding hundreds of homes -- some of them in low-lying rural areas that have yet to be reached.
"We are looking inside homes, inside basements, particularly in outlying areas," Gianfranco Galaffu, local director of the civil protection agency for the worst affected northern part of the island, told AFP.
"There is a lot to do. The activity is frenetic. For now we are taking care of the most acute emergencies," he said, adding that personnel and equipment were being sent in from other parts of Sardinia and mainland Italy.
Thousands were displaced by the flooding, said Environment Minister Andrea Orlando.
"Around 2,700 people had to leave their homes and are staying in community shelters or with their families," said Orlando, speaking in front of Italy's parliament.
The minister announced that an earlier death toll of 17 had risen to 18.
A government meeting today declared a state of emergency for the island and allocated 20 million euros (USD 27 million) for emergency assistance, while the regional government provided five million euros.
A few people -- estimated at between two and four by different officials -- were still reported missing.
Rescuers said that more victims could be found in flooded homes or cars and that around 20,000 people had been affected.
Soldiers and navy personnel were deployed in the region, as local rescue services said their efforts were being hampered by the damage to roads. Rescue dogs were also being used, officials said.
"We are focusing on essential operations: saving human lives, assisting displaced people and clearing road access," Prime Minister Enrico Letta told a press conference after an emergency cabinet meeting.
"This was an absolutely extraordinary event," Letta said, with one expert telling AFP that a storm of such intensity and with such high rainfall had not been seen on the picturesque holiday island "for centuries".
