Roughly 1000 residents from the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna were evacuated after torrential rains caused severe flooding overnight, local media reported on Thursday.
The regional provinces of Ravenna, Bologna and Faenza saw rivers flood as local mayors advised residents to evacuate their homes or stay on the upper floors of their houses.
At least 800 people in the Ravenna area and nearly 200 in Bologna province evacuated to shelters, schools and sports centers.
"The night was dramatic. We waited for the river flood to cross the city," Faenza Mayor Massimo Isola told state TV station Rainews. "It rose really close to the limit, but thanks to the works done over the past year, we managed to avoid an overflow in the center of the city."
Trains and schools closed down across the Emilia-Romagna region and residents were told to avoid travel and work from home if possible.
The Faenza area had just recovered from floods that hit Emilia-Romagna in May 2023, which caused 17 deaths and billions of euros in damages.
Meanwhile, several Central and Eastern European countries—such as Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania—have seen severe flooding in recent days, with over 20 people dead across the region.
In late August, Newsweek reported that over 100 tons of dead fish had been collected in and around a port in Greece, which authorities blamed on extreme climate fluctuations.
The dead freshwater fish were found at the port of Volos in central Greece, about a three-hour drive north of Athens, and nearby rivers after floods raised water levels last year, followed by months of severe drought.
Global warming has caused some types of extreme weather events to intensify or occur more often, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. It shared on its website how global warming can lead to more frequent heavy rain and snowstorms due to an increase in water vapor in the atmosphere.
"A warmer and more moist atmosphere over the oceans makes it likely that the strongest hurricanes will be more intense, produce more rainfall, and possibly be larger," the Academies said.
It continued: "In addition, global warming causes sea level to rise, which increases the amount of seawater, along with more rainfall, that is pushed on to shore during coastal storms. That seawater, along with more rainfall, can result in destructive flooding."
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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