A “medical” storm engulfs southern Italy

(CNN) – Southern Italy prepares for two more days From devastating rains and torrents, As a “medica,” a storm between a hurricane and a tornado that flooded streets and killed two people, runs through the area.

Sicily’s president (a position similar to that of regional governor), Nello Musumesi, confirmed the deaths and said a third person was missing late Tuesday, while the mayor of Catania city urged residents to stay home if possible.

Mayor Salvo Pugliese said in a video posted on his Facebook page: “We have had two very difficult days. We have lived exciting hours.” He said the weather was “definitely better” on Wednesday, but cautioned that the forecast for Thursday and Friday was still “particularly worrying.”

Red alert in Sicily

Red alerts were issued for Wednesday and Thursday in Sicily and the area containing the city of Catania, which has already been hit by bad weather all week.

The storm comes as world leaders prepare to meet in Rome, Italy G20 summit. Climate concerns are high on the agenda for this event, which will be immediately followed by a crucial meeting of COP26 in Scotland.

According to weather data from nearby Catania.

Cars littered the streets of Catania on Wednesday and the area is bracing for more rain later in the week.

The storm is expected to continue in the area through the weekend with more rain. In Catania, orders were issued to close non-essential schools, shops and offices until Friday.

critical situation

More than 600 rescue operations have been carried out in Catania in the last day, the Interior Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday.

“The event is not over. Now there is a blackout moment, but our meteorological models tell us it will return. Difficult hours await us in this area. We expect a significant deterioration between Thursday and Friday,” said the Head of Civil Affairs. Protection of Fabrizio Corsio at a press conference in Catania.

Musumechi described the situation as “extremely critical” and described the scenes seen across Catania and its province as “terrible”.

Damage in Scordia, Sicily, after the storm passed through the area.

“Roads have turned into streams” and “fields have turned into lakes, completely secluded neighborhoods and hundreds of homes flooded, incalculable damage to buildings and crops. Eastern Sicily is witnessing a phenomenon that, unfortunately, we fear is increasingly less widespread, with tragedy” he said on his official page. On Facebook on Tuesday, “scenarios set to repeat.”

Medicines and climate change

Medicines are produced twice a year, usually between September and December.

This order is not expected to threaten the G-20 talks in Rome, but it does add more urgency to efforts by various countries to commit the world to stricter goals on climate change.

Science shows it Man-made climate change It makes extreme weather events, including torrential rain, more frequent and intense. The climate crisis is also contributing to the fluctuations between droughts and floods in many places, including parts of the United States, such as California, as well as in the Middle East and Africa.

As the Earth’s atmosphere warms, it can hold more moisture, which is why the world is seeing more rain than in the past. But the climate crisis is also creating longer droughts, which makes land and soil too dry to absorb rain as effectively as usual. This combination makes flooding more likely, and often more destructive.

With information from Angela Dewan, Sarah Dean and Monica Jarrett.