Italy: Storm Ciaran Causes Deadly Flooding in Tuscany

Facts

• On Friday as Storm Ciaran moved through western Europe, local officials in central Italy announced that five people had been killed in Tuscany as a result of heavy rainfall and devastating riverine flooding.¹
• Eugenio Giani, the president of Tuscany, declared a state of emergency and said, 'It has been a long and complex night for the entire regional civil protection system.'²
• Storm Ciaran, has been characterized by meteorologists as a 'bomb cyclone' that swept across Europe with the lowest recorded pressure measured for a November storm at 953 millibars.³
• The storm system arrived in Italy packing winds of 140 km/h (87 mph) and dumping more than 200mm (7.8 in) of rain in some locations. The heavy rainfall caused the River Bisenzio to burst its banks forcing residents to rooftops as cars were swept away.⁴
• Victims of the flooding include an 85-year-old man found in his flooded home in Prato and an 84-year-old woman was killed while trying to prevent the water from inundating her home. While search and rescue operations are ongoing, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has dedicated €5M ($5.3M) to aid residents in recovering from the disaster.⁵
• Before reaching Italy, Storm Ciaran moved across Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany killing another seven people. The devastating storm system arrived on the heels of Storm Babet which caused flooding in the region less than two weeks ago.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²The Guardian, ³FOX Weather, ⁴BBC News, ⁵Daily Mail and ⁶CBS.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Euronews. Storm Ciaran will be ranked among the top 40 most devastating storms to occur since 1980 and it should serve as a wake-up call to the dangers of climate change. Weather systems like tropical cyclones and broader patterns like El Nino are directly tied to sea ice and global temperatures. If we don't act soon these weather patterns will be irreversible and the impacts endless, and Europe is very much on the front line.
• Narrative B, as provided by Clean Energy Wire. European governments have increased the speed of their climate adaptation plans. Not only are these nations aiming to reach net-zero emissions sooner, but they are also focusing on a multi-sector approach to infrastructure advancements that will incorporate resilient improvements in technology and nature-based solutions. Europe is at the cutting edge of adapting to climate threats.
• Narrative C, as provided by FT. It's easy to dismiss any extreme weather event as a consequence of climate change, but in reality, they're usually influenced by a myriad of factors that have nothing to do with it. More research is needed before we can establish any direct causal link between the two.

Predictions