ROME, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Italy's northern Veneto region was reeling on Monday in the aftermath of a violent storm, with torrential rain and hail followed by a tornado that swept across several provinces and cities on Sunday, causing extensive damage to harvests and properties.
In the city of Verona, the tornado and the downpour uprooted trees, tore roofing off buildings, and submerged the city in hail and floods, as seen in photos and videos published by Corriere del Veneto, a local paper, and by MeteoWeb weather website.
The storm also uprooted fruit trees, tore down vineyards, destroyed greenhouses and harvests, and flooded animal stables in the Veneto countryside, causing "millions of euros in damages," the National Confederation of Farmers (Coldiretti, in its Italian acronym) said in a statement on Monday.
Coldiretti said that "the nets that were supposed to protect the fruit ready for harvest were devastated by the fury of the climate, which did not spare the grapes that were about to be picked."
The farmers association pointed out that so far in August, there have been "five hail and rain storms a day up and down the Italian peninsula, often destroying a whole year's worth of work in a few minutes."
Also on Monday, Veneto Governor Luca Zaia said in a press conference that he has declared a state of emergency for the provinces and cities of Verona, Padova, Vicenza and Belluno, where the consequences of the storm have been "devastating."
The city of Verona, which was "the epicenter" of the devastation, "is on its knees," Zaia said.
The National Fire Department tweeted that it carried out "over 200 rescue operations" on Sunday due to "widespread flooding" while on Monday, firefighters were engaged in "over 300 interventions to combat damage caused by hail, torrential rains and wind" in the Veneto provinces of Verona, Padova and Vicenza.
No deaths have been reported by rescue services so far. Enditem
