Bologna, July 16, 2026 – There have been 457 interventions carried out by the firefighters for the severe weather wave in Emilia-Romagna and about as many still pending, mainly for removal of trees or branches fallen on the road, parked cars or houses, or for removal of dangerous parts or roofs torn off by the wind, or for draining flooded premises.
Here is the damage count after a powerful cloudburst hit the region yesterday around 4 p.m., starting to affect the provinces of Piacenza and Parma and then crossing the entire territory to the coast. Among the hardest hit areas are Reggio Emilia, Modena, and Bologna, but in general the bad weather unleashed on the Po Valley.
Bologna. Via Santa Margherita al colle (behind the Margherita gardens) still blocked: an Enel pole and a tree have been blocking traffic since last night. About 50 families cannot use their cars. Some have stayed in hotels or at friends’ houses.
It is difficult to point to any area in Modena where the cloudburst did not cause damage yesterday: flooded roads, roofs torn off, uprooted trees, and fires. The toll.
The firefighters of Bologna report that “since 6:30 p.m. yesterday, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, several teams from this provincial Fire Department have responded to 135 calls for interventions related to the bad weather following the violent storm that hit the city and part of the province. As of 8:00 a.m. today, Thursday, July 16, there are still 20 interventions ongoing plus about a hundred still to be carried out. Almost all interventions involved removal of dangerous trees and roofs torn off while no flooding with people trapped has been reported.”
The first health bulletin reports about ten injured (all minor), mostly drivers whose vehicles were hit while driving by fallen trees. Like in via Misa or via Albertoni, near Sant’Orsola. Where a tree smashed the car windshield leaving the woman unharmed but causing minor injuries to her husband at the wheel.
Bologna hit hard by the storm. The Municipality of Bologna has closed parks and gardens until 12 noon today, Thursday, July 16, to allow removal of fallen trees and check the stability of others. Numerous trees fell, one even on a building, due to very strong wind gusts. Disruptions to road and rail traffic.
The train station in Reggio Emilia was completely flooded last night.
The most serious fact is that one person died involved in the cloudburst in Bomporto (Modena). In a collision between two cars on via per Bastiglia, the victim was a 68-year-old man. The driver of the other vehicle, a 78-year-old, suffered minor injuries. According to some witnesses, at that moment, in the Bassa area, hell had broken loose and it is not excluded that poor visibility was the cause of the violent crash.
In the province of Reggio Emilia, in particular, there are still over 100 requests pending and rescue teams are awaited from Marche, Tuscany, and Liguria. During the night, checks continued and there were evacuations of some families with houses having roofs torn off, especially in the areas of Poviglio and Brescello.
Read more Corinaldo massacre, one year after Cavallari’s escape: investigation still stalled
