A German grandma and her five-month-old grandson are missing after a sudden flood hit their vacation house near Pisa, Tuscany. The flood happened because the nearby River Sterza got too full and overflowed into the house where the family was staying.
The family was on vacation in Italy. On Monday evening, they called emergency services as water started to come into their house. However, it was hard for them to communicate and tell their exact location, which delayed the rescue team.
While trying to move to higher floors in the house, the baby fell into the water and the grandma was swept away as she tried to save him, explained the mayor of Montecatini Val di Cecina, Francesco Auriemma.
The baby’s parents and grandpa managed to get to the roof and were rescued later. But the search for grandma and baby is still ongoing. Over 100 firefighters are working hard to find them, but it’s tough because the roads are broken and many areas are muddy.
Firefighter Nicola Cianelli said the water rose very fast, with waves as high as 2.5 meters (8 feet) hitting the house. Heavy rain has been pouring since Monday, and more bad weather is on the way.
The Tuscany region got an unusual amount of rain. In just six hours, more rain fell than usually falls in a whole month, said regional president Eugenio Giani.
This flood is the most severe weather event ever recorded in the region.
This disaster follows another serious flood in nearby Emilia Romagna last week, where over 1,000 people had to leave their homes and two people are still missing.