GENOA, Italy, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Flooding in Genoa, Italy, after a massive rainstorm, killed one person Friday and left the port city in chaos with power blackouts and cars swept away.
Much of the ancient city, with a population of 600,000, currently is under a coating of up to three feet of mud. The Bisagno River, and other nearby rivers, overflowed their banks after several days of heavy rain, and rescuers reported cars piled atop each other and in large holes on the roads, created by the flooding.
Schools were closed, trains derailed and rescuers found the body of a man, 57, near the river. The area received over ten inches of rain in a 12-hour period Friday.
The blackout of the city's electrical grid led to looting of stores, and four people were arrested for alleged robberies of two shops in Genoa.
The confusion was compounded by residents' anger. They noted no alarms or warnings were given for the flooding by government officials.
"I will limit myself to one fact: the alert was not given," said Genoa Mayor Marco Doria, adding his city relied on information from ARPAL, the regional government environmental agency, which offered no warning.
The agency responded that its data did not predict a rainstorm of such magnitude.
Italian Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti noted 35 million Euros were reserved for hydrogeological work to Genoa to prevent a repeat of severe flooding in November 2011, when the Fereggiano River overflowed, killing six people, but none of the funding had been spent because of what he called bureaucratic tie-ups.
