The material damage from storm Alex appears to be even more serious than first suspected. In Italy and France the damage could be in the billions of euros. Four people were killed in France, eight bodies were found in Italy, although it is now unclear whether all the bodies found were victims of the storm. It may also be a number of corpses that have been washed away from French cemeteries.
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Heavy rains and storms hit hard in northwestern Italy and southern France over the weekend. Streets overflowed, bridges collapsed and several people died. But exactly how much is not yet clear.
Washed along
On the coast of Liguria, where several bodies washed ashore in recent days, an eighth body was discovered on the beach, according to the Ansa news agency. But according to the prefect of the French department of Alpes-Maritimes, at least four of those bodies were already in a state of profound decomposition. According to the prefect, they probably come from coffins that were carried away in the severe flooding from cemeteries in the south of France.
“It is not about recent deaths,” said prefect Berbard Gonzales. “These are old corpses that could resemble corpses from flooded cemeteries in France.” Identification is underway, “it said earlier to the coastguard of Imperia, Italy,” but it is difficult since the bodies were found without clothes. “
Damage
In the particularly hard-hit region of Piedmont alone, the damage is estimated at 1 billion euros, Piedmont president Alberto Cirio announced on Tuesday. In Italy, in addition to Piedmont, the regions Aosta and Liguria in particular were hit hard.
In France, about 5,000 households were still without electricity on Monday morning. The floods also destroyed underground cables. “This is very exceptional,” reports Marianne Laigneau, CEO of energy supplier Enedis. “We have never seen such a devastating phenomenon before, with some sites even becoming inaccessible.”
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