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An
elderly man who was cycling drowned when he was swept away by
the waters of a flooded river in the town of Castel Bolognese,
Ansa news agency reported.
A house collapsed in the nearby village of Fontanelice.
Firefighters said on Twitter that a person might be trapped
inside.
Footage released by fire brigades showed extensive flooding in
an area between Bologna, Emilia Romagna's capital, and the city
of Ravenna on the Adriatic coast.
They said they had carried out around 400 rescue operations,
evacuating dozens of people.
Rail operator Trenitalia said several services were suspended
due to weather conditions and a number of streets were closed.
The torrential rain comes after months of drought which raised
concerns about the low water level in the Po, Italy's largest
river which runs West to East through the northern part of
Emilia Romagna.
The head of Italy's civil protection agency said he was
travelling the flood-hit area and Environment Minister Gilberto
Pichetto Fratin promised help for those affected.
"The government stands by the people in difficulty: today for
the emergency, which must be backed by adequate economic
resources, but from now on to accelerate (infrastructure)
measures that are needed for safety," he wrote on Facebook.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones and
Bernadette Baum)
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