'Apocalyptic' Ribut banjir Sardinia, 16 yang mati . . .

Photo: AP 2 buah kapal tangki yang didera oleh angin ribut manakala di pangkalan laut di perairan kasar Teluk Cagliari, Sardinia, Isnin November 18, 2013. Hujan lebat ganas yang membanjiri bahagian seluruh pulau Mediterranean Sardinia telah membawa kepada kematian sekurang-kurangnya 9 orang. Jambatan telah tumbang oleh sungai melimpah dan paras air mencapai 3 meter (ela) di beberapa tempat - think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

MADAyuMadyan - ROME (AP)  Pulau Mediterranean Sardinia, dihargai oleh jet-set den-gan pantai pasir putih dan laut yang jernih, adalah mandi lumpur banjir melanda sema-lam selepas hujan lebat aneh mencurah-curah membunuh sekurang-kurangnya 16 orang, dijatuhkan jambatan dan hanyut kereta.

Itali Premier Enrico Letta mengisytiharkan darurat dan ketepikan 20 juta euro ($27 million) untuk bantuan kecemasan berkata, keutamaan telah mencapai kawasan peda-laman, menyelamatkan nyawa mereka yang masih diambil kira dan menyediakan tempat tinggal bagi orang-orang kiri. Letta kemudian pergi ke pulau, di mana beliau telah bertemu dengan orang-orang dilanda banjir.

Pulau , yang menarik kaum kerabat, usahawan dan pelancong biasa semasa, bulan puncak musim panas kering, menerima lebih daripada 44 sentimeter (17.3 inci) hujan dalam tempoh 24 jam Isnin - separuh jumlah ia biasanya menerima dalam setahun, kata pegawai.

Ketua perlindungan awam Itali, Franco Gabrielli, berkata jumlah kematian masih boleh meningkat kerana krew sampai ke kawasan terpencil di kawasan luar bandar di mana beberapa rumah yang tenggelam. Agensi perlindungan awam di Olbia berkata angka rasmi adalah 16 dengan satu yang hilang lewat Selasa, membetulkan angka kematian daripada 17 yang telah dikeluarkan sebelum ini oleh seorang pegawai serantau.

Pope Francis berkata dalam mesej disiarkan di Twitter bahawa beliau “amat tersentuh dengan tragedi mengerikan yang melanda Sardinia.” Dia bertanya kepada pengikutnya untuk menawarkan sembahyang kepada mangsa-mangsa, “terutamanya untuk kanak-kanak.”

Pengangkutan telah dihalang oleh sungai lumpur koko berwarna sentiasa mengalir ke atas jalan-jalan yang terpaksa penutupan beberapa jalan raya utama, termasuk terowong ke bandar Olbia, menurut syarikat itu Anas yang berjalan jalan dan di lebuh raya di Itali.

Olbia Datuk Bandar Gianni Giovannelli berkata bandar telah dimusnahkan oleh “dahsyat” ribut, dengan jambatan ditebang dan paras air mencapai 3 meter (10 kaki) di beberapa tempat. Beliau menyifatkan keganasan hujan ribut sebagai “bom air.”

Gabrielli mempertahankan sistem amaran perlindungan awam, yang telah memberi isyarat risiko yang “tinggi” ribut di banyak di Sardinia, tahap tertinggi berjaga-jaga. Beliau memberi amaran terhadap hari selepas menunjuk jari, berkata perintah pemin-dahan telah dikeluarkan dan diabaikan dan tidak ada ramalan cuaca boleh meramalkan yang “luar biasa” tahap kemusnahan.

Olbia bermastautin Marcello Piredda berkata dia kehilangan semua harta benda di rumahnya yang ditenggelami air. “aya melihat (sungai) yang melimpah, seperti orang lain melihatnya. Saya selamatkan anjing. Saya selamatkan seseorang,” Piredda berkata beliau membersihkan serpihan yang telah dikumpul di luar rumahnya.

Gabenor Sardinia, UgoCappellacci berkata yang mati termasuk 4 keluarga, dilaporkan berasal dari Brazil, di Arzachena. Akhbar tempatan L' Unione Sarda berkata seorang anggota polis membantu mengiringi ambulans yang mati apabila kereta beliau dalam perjalanan telah tenggelam dalam keruntuhan jambatan di Dorgali. Dalam ganas melan-da Gallura, 3 orang mati selepas kereta mereka telah dihanyutkan dalam keruntuhan jambatan yang lain, kata akhbar itu.

Sardinia adalah pulau yang ke-2 terbesar di Mediterranean dan merupakan salah satu wilayah autonomi Itali. Walaupun ia dikenali kepada pelancong untuk Costa pantai Smeralda, pedalaman pulau itu dikenali dengan kambing biri-biri dan kehidupan bimbingan dan nasihat. Sardinian yang terkenal untuk jangka hayat mereka yang luar biasa.

Bahagian-bahagian yang lain di Itali juga telah dilanda hujan lebat Selasa, termasuk ibu kota, Rom, dan Venice di utara, di mana penduduk dan pelancong memakai but getah untuk mengaduk-aduk melalui Dataran St Marks ' dibanjiri dari “acqua Alta” air pasang tinggi yang berkala menenggelamkan bandar lagun.

Photo: AP 2 lelaki menggunakan ‘Inflatable dingy’ untuk mendapatkan sekitar di jalan yang banjir di Olbia, utara Sardinia, Isnin 18 November, 2013. Hujan lebat ganas yang membanjiri bahagian seluruh pulau Mediterranean Sardinia telah membawa kepada kematian sekurang-kurangnya 9 orang. Jambatan telah tumbang oleh sungai melimpah dan paras air mencapai 3 meter (ela) di beberapa tempat - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

Photo: AP Penyelamat bekerja di jalan yang banjir di bandar kecil Uras, Sardinia, Isnin 18 November, 2013. Hujan lebat ganas yang membanjiri bahagian seluruh pulau Mediterranean Sardinia telah membawa kepada kematian sekurang-kurangnya 9 orang. Jambatan telah tumbang oleh sungai melimpah dan paras air mencapai 3 meter (ela) di beberapa tempat - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

'Apocalyptic' storm floods Sardinia, 16 dead . . .

ROME (AP)  The Mediterranean island of Sardinia, prized by the jet-set for its white sand beaches and crystal-clear seas, was a flood-ravaged mud bath Tuesday after a freak torrential rainstorm killed at least 16 people, downed bridges and swept away cars.

Italian Premier Enrico Letta declared a state of emergency and set aside 20 million euros ($27 million) for emergency relief, saying the priority was reaching remote areas, saving the lives of those still unaccounted for and providing for those left homeless. Letta later traveled to the island, where he met with people hit by the floods.

The island, which draws royals, entrepreneurs and ordinary tourists alike during the dry, peak summer months, received more than 44 centimeters (17.3 inches) of rain in 24 hours Monday - half the amount it normally receives in a year, officials said.

Italy's civil protection chief, Franco Gabrielli, said the death toll may still rise as crews reach isolated areas in the countryside where some homes are submerged. The civil protection agency in Olbia said the official toll was 16 with one missing late Tuesday, correcting the death toll of 17 that was issued earlier by a regional official.

Pope Francis said in a message posted on Twitter that he was "deeply moved by the appalling tragedy that hit Sardinia." He asked followers to offer prayers to the victims, "especially for the children."

Transport was hampered by rivers of cocoa-colored mud gushing over roads that forced the closure of several major thoroughfares, including a tunnel into the city of Olbia, according to the Anas company which runs Italy's roads and highways.

Olbia Mayor Gianni Giovannelli said the city had been destroyed by the "apocalyptic" storm, with bridges felled and water levels reaching 3 meters (10 feet) in some places. He described the ferocity of the storm's rains as a "water bomb."

Gabrielli defended the civil protection's alert system, which had signaled an "elevated" risk of the storm on much of Sardinia, the highest level of alert. He warned against day-after finger-pointing, saying evacuation orders had been issued and ignored and that no weather forecast could have predicted the "exceptional" degree of devastation.

Olbia resident Marcello Piredda said he lost all the possessions in his flooded house. "I saw (the river) overflowing, as everybody else saw it. I saved a dog. I saved a person, " Piredda said as he cleaned debris that had collected outside his home.

Sardinia's governor, UgoCappellacci, said the dead included a family of four, reportedly of Brazilian origin, in Arzachena. Local newspaper L'Unione Sarda said a policeman helping to escort an ambulance died when the car he was travelling in was submerged in the collapse of a bridge in Dorgali. In hard-hit Gallura, three people died after their car was swept away in the collapse of another bridge, the paper said.

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean and is one of Italy's autonomous regions. While it's known to tourists for its pristine Costa Smeralda beaches, the island's interior is known for its sheep and pastoral life. Sardinians are famed for their exceptional longevity.

Other parts of Italy were also hit by heavy rains Tuesday, including the capital, Rome, and Venice in the north, where residents and tourists donned rubber boots to slosh through a St. Marks' Square flooded from the "acqua alta" high tides that periodically submerge the lagoon city.