Downpour in Irpinia, fear for boy in flooded house

(ANSA) – NAPLES, AUGUST 27 – Flooded homes, trapped motorists, a river of water and mud that swept away everything in its path: the storm that hit some municipalities in Irpinia in the late afternoon caused damage, but no injuries at the moment. Dozens of rescuers, including law enforcement, Civil Protection and volunteers, are involved in rescue operations in Baiano, Mugnano del Cardinale, Sirignano, on the border between the provinces of Avellino and Naples, the ones hardest hit by the bad weather. Several motorists, stuck in their cars on the streets of the three Irpinia towns, were rescued and brought to safety from the river of water and mud that, due to the flooding of the Regio Lagno, in the municipality of Sirignano, invaded State Road 7 up to the town of Mugnano del Cardinale. Moments of fear for a 12-year-old boy, of whom there had been no news: he was inside the ground floor of a house between the two municipalities and managed to save himself by holding on to the railings and climbing to the first floor of the house, which in the meantime had been completely invaded by water. The A16 Naples-Canosa was temporarily closed to allow emergency vehicles to clear the entrance area to the Baiano toll booth of water and debris and due to the fall of a retaining wall onto the roadway. The weather conditions have improved in the meantime. (ANSA).