Water bomb in Reggino, 'cars reached the sea and walls fell'

Rain and thunderstorms spread throughout Calabria tonight with reports of particularly intense phenomena in Reggino, in the lower Ionian area.

The most significant damage, at the moment, has been recorded in the municipality of Melito di Porto Salvo where during the night the bad weather caused roads invaded by mud and debris. Civil protection, firefighters and law enforcement are operational on site.

"The town is on its knees. Tonight - mayor Tito Nastasi explains to ANSA - there was a water bomb. The cars reached the sea and there were fallen walls. We are without roads.

I officially request a state of natural disaster for Melito.

We still haven't counted the damage." At the moment no injuries have been reported.

Debris was also found in several parts of State Road 106 where restoration operations are underway with traffic slowing down.

The Civil Protection constantly monitors the evolution of the situation throughout the regional territory, without at the moment reports of particular critical issues or damage, predicting a decrease in the phenomena in the next few years, a recovery in the afternoon, and an improvement in the situation starting from the late evening. For today, an orange alert bulletin was issued for much of the region yesterday.