A “medicane” devastates southern Italy, flooding the streets and leaving two dead

(CNN) – Southern Italy prepares for two more days of devastating rains and flash floods, as a “medicane,” a storm between a hurricane and a typhoon, which has inundated the streets and killed two people, passes through the region.

The president of Sicily (a position similar to that of a regional governor), Nello Musumeci, confirmed the deaths and said a third person was missing late Tuesday, while the mayor of the city of Catania urged residents to remain in home if possible.

“We have lived through two very difficult days. We have lived through dramatic hours,” Mayor Salvo Pogliese said in a video posted on his Facebook page. He said the weather was “definitely better” on Wednesday, but cautioned that the forecast for Thursday and Friday remained “particularly worrying.”

Red alert in Sicily

Red alerts have been issued for Wednesday and Thursday on the island of Sicily and the region containing the city of Catania, which has already been hit by bad weather all week.

The storm comes as world leaders prepare to meet in Rome, the capital of Italy, to a G20 summit. Climate concern is high on the agenda for this event, which will be immediately followed by a critical meeting of COP26 in Scotland.

According to weather data from the nearby city of Catania.

Cars were scattered on the streets of Catania on Wednesday, and the region is preparing to receive more rain later in the week.

The storm is expected to remain in the area through the weekend, with more rain. In Catania, schools and non-essential shops and offices have been ordered to remain closed until Friday.

Critical situation

More than 600 rescue operations have been carried out in Catania in the last day, the Interior Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday.

“The event is not over. Now there is a moment of dimming, but our meteorological models tell us that it will return. Difficult hours await us in this area. We expect a significant deterioration between Thursday and Friday,” said the head of civil protection Fabrizio Curcio at a press conference in Catania.

Mosumeci described the situation as “very critical” and described the scenes seen throughout Catania and its province as “atrocious”.

Damage in Scordia, Sicily, after the storm passed through the region.

“The roads have become streams” and “the fields into lakes, entire isolated neighborhoods and hundreds of flooded houses, incalculable damage to buildings and crops. Eastern Sicily is experiencing a phenomenon that, unfortunately, we fear will be increasingly less sporadic, with tragic scenarios destined to repeat themselves, “he said on his official Facebook page on Tuesday.

The “medicanes” and climate change

The “medicanes” are produced about twice a year, usually between September and December.

This system is not expected to threaten the G20 talks in Rome, but it adds more urgency to the effort being made by various countries to commit the world to tougher targets on climate change.

Science shows that man-made climate change it is making extreme weather events, including torrential rains, more frequent and intense. The climate crisis is also contributing to swings between drought and flooding in many places, including parts of the United States, such as California, as well as in the Middle East and Africa.

As Earth’s atmosphere warms, it can retain more moisture, which is why the world is experiencing heavier rains than historically. But the climate crisis is also creating longer dry spells, leaving the land and soil so dry that they cannot absorb rain as effectively as usual. This combination makes floods more likely, and often more destructive.

With information from Angela Dewan, Sarah Dean and Monica Garrett.