The death toll from floods caused by heavy rain in and around the Sardinian capital of Cagliari rose to three on Wednesday after police found the body of an 80-year-old woman.
The woman had been washed away in a car with her son-in-law when a bridge collapsed in the town of Capoterra, 15 km from Cagliari, where a river bursting its banks contributed to heavy floods.
Police are still searching for the body of the man, who had picked up his mother-in-law in a bid to take her to safety.
Earlier in the day, an 85-year-old woman was found dead in the flooded basement of her house in the same town.
A 66-year-old man was also killed in Sestu, 10 km from Cagliari, as he tried to get into the passenger seat of a car that was swept away by fast-moving flood water.
Around 80 mm of rain per hour fell in the region for six hours.
Police said they had found salt-water fish in some flooded houses after rain and river water pouring out towards the sea had been pushed back in land by the tide.
A local reader of ITALY Magazine gave us the following account: "A large residential area is cut off both physically — in terms of roads and communication links—and in terms of utilities — phone, water and electricity. The storm has caused a great damage to the infrastructure, which will probably require both emergency and long-term repair work, and to private homes—our garden was destroyed, and we saw wrecked or collapsed walls. Some homes were flooded, carshave been washed away, and there are enormous amounts of mud everywhere. Sadly, there have also been four fatalities. Just now, the sun is shining but more rain is forecast, and this is causing concern for the future."
