The region of Ticino has been battered by weeks of torrential rain, which worsened when Lake Lugano broke its banks, and Lake Maggiore threatened to do the same. Genoa located in the foothills of the Alps received 139 mm of rain.
A pensioner and his granddaughter were killed when their house in Cerro di Laveno, near the border with Switzerland, collapsed in a landslide.
The latest casualties means a total of 11 people have died as a result of floods in Italy in the last month. The storms have exposed the fragile infrastructure in many parts of Italy, where poor planning and illegal building increases the threats posed by floods.
“They promise to do something and then they do nothing. What can we do? Stay closed in hour houses?” asked one woman in Milan.
While the rains subsided, the Swiss government warned that more downpours were expected on both sides of the border, up to 100 mm in some areas.
