2.5 meter high flood wave Grandma and baby missing after flooding in Italy

Two German tourists are swept away by the floodwaters of a stream after heavy rain in Tuscany and are reported missing. The search for the grandmother and her five-month-old grandson is underway.

After heavy rain in Tuscany, a German woman and a five-month-old baby were swept away by the floodwaters of an overflowing stream. Both are missing, as the spokesperson for the Italian fire department confirmed to the German Press Agency. The missing persons are said to be a grandmother and her grandson. They were on vacation with their family in Montecatini Val di Cecina near Pisa.

According to the fire department, the rest of the German family - the baby's parents and grandfather - were able to escape to the roof of the vacation home during the flooding. The family came from Munich and had been on vacation in Tuscany for over a week, as the Carabinieri in Pisa reported in response to a dpa inquiry. The baby's grandmother was born in 1963 and his parents are in their thirties, according to the Carabinieri.

On Tuesday night, it rained heavily in the area around Pisa and Livorno in Tuscany, a region popular with holidaymakers. In the municipality of Montecatini Val di Cecina, the Sterza stream overflowed its banks, flooding the town and causing major damage.

Emergency services not giving up hope

According to a local fire department commander, dramatic scenes unfolded during the night. The family was swept away by a tidal wave that entered the house with a height of up to 2.5 meters, the Ansa news agency quoted Nicola Ciannelli as saying. The baby's parents and grandfather were able to cling to pillars and other solid objects and save themselves on the roof. However, the grandmother and her grandson were swept away by the force of the water.

The search for the two missing people has been underway since the night, according to the fire department spokesman. Divers, dog handlers and regular emergency services are involved in the search. "We are not giving up hope," said Ciannelli. However, it is suspected that the bodies of the two missing people may have become trapped under tree trunks and other vegetation lying in the Sterza stream bed.

The President of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, wrote on social media that the area had not seen this much rain in such a short space of time for decades. "In the municipalities, 226 millimeters of rain fell in six hours, which is more than what normally falls in a rainy month. Since weather statistics have been kept, there has never been such intense rainfall in one go in this region," said Giani.

dpa