Italy to declare state of emergency as flood deaths rise to 11

The death toll from floods that devastated an area of northeastern Italy has risen to 11 after the bodies of two more people were found, authorities told AFP news agency.

The grim discovery came on Thursday as rescue workers searched for anyone still trapped by floodwaters in the Emilia Romagna region, after downpours devastated homes and farms.

The latest victims were two farmers in their 70s who may have been electrocuted while trying to move a fridge inside a flooded house, Italian media reported.

With 10,000 people already displaced, authorities in Ravenna issued an immediate evacuation order early Thursday morning for three more villages threatened by floods.

Authorities said electricity had been partly restored, but some 27,000 people were still in the dark.

Nearly two dozen rivers and streams flooded across the southeast of the low-lying region following heavy rain earlier this week, submerging entire neighbourhoods and farmland, and damaging 400 roads.

Agricultural lobby Coldiretti said Thursday that more than 5,000 farms were under water, with drowned animals and tens of thousands of hectares of vineyards, fruit trees, vegetables and grain flooded.

Wall of water

The mayor of Ravenna, Michele De Pascale, announced Thursday that residents of about a half dozen towns could return, but warned them "to exercise the utmost caution".

Cracks in river embankments still posed a risk to other areas, which were being closely monitored, he said.

"We had an estimated two billion (euros) of damages two weeks ago... the ground no longer absorbs anything," Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia Romagna region, told La7 television channel late Wednesday.

"When we have six months of rain in 36 hours, falling where there had already been record rain two weeks ago, there is no territory that can hold out," he added.

On Thursday Bonaccini compared the floods to the earthquake that hit the region on May 20, 2012, almost 11 years ago to the day. Fixing the damage would be "a gigantic undertaking", he said, and the region launched a fundraising effort.

Ferrari, the luxury carmaker whose Maranello base is not far from the flooded areas, pledged one million euros. The flooding caused the cancellation of Sunday's Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.

Pope Francis offered his prayers for those affected and thanked everyone on the ground helping those hit by the "shocking disaster".