At least 13 dead as Italy experiences worst flooding in a century

May 18 (UPI) -- At least 13 people have died in Italy as of Thursday as the country faces its worst flooding in a century.

The floods have overtaken 41 cities and towns and have left approximately 20,000 without homes killing more than a dozen people, with the death toll largely including elderly people from the northern Emilia-Romagna region.

Among the deaths are a couple who died when their fields flooded, an 80-year-old man who drowned in his cellar, a couple who died trapped in their Cava home, and a 76-year-old man who died in a landslide.

Meanwhile, rescuers were able to evacuate 40 elderly people from a nursing home in Faenza.

The historic flood has caused 23 rivers to overflow and produced 280 landslides that have disrupted travel, shutting down the major A1 Highway while also canceling and delaying train services.

Nearly 8 inches of rain had fallen in 36 hours with nearly 20 in some areas.

"Soils that remain dry for a long time end up becoming cemented, drastically limiting their capacity to absorb water," said Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called a crisis meeting to respond to the floods on Tuesday as Stefano Bonaccini, the regional president of Emilia-Romagna, said the impact of the floods were similar to those of a 2012 earthquake that left 28 people dead.

"The damage will be quantitatively smaller but it will be a few billion euros," he said. "We will rebuild everything as we did for the earthquake."

The flooding led to the cancellation of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix race which was scheduled to start on Friday morning.

"It is such a tragedy to see what has happened to Imola and Emila-Romagna, the town and region that I grew up in, and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the flooding and the families and communities affected," said Formula 1 President Stefano Domenicali in a press release.