Italian capital city on high alert amid severe weather

Heavy rainfalls and strong winds have hit Rome since Wednesday night and hundreds of schools remained closed on Thursday after a severe weather warning was issued by local authorities.
The whole capital city and surrounding areas were put on the highest alert, as more rainfalls up to 110 millimetres in 24 hours were expected, according to Italian civil protection's forecast.
Rome always proved to be particularly susceptible to flooding in case of heavy rains, given its old water network and infrastructures.
Major traffic disruption was registered on Thursday morning. At least four major metro stations were flooded by rains and shut, and water swamped several roads in the historical centre and other districts.
The main highways to and from the city were also flooded, and the Rome's ring road GRA was jammed with traffic.
An emergency meeting had been called on Wednesday afternoon by prefect of Rome Alfonso Pecoraro, in order to lay down a plan to face the severe weather warning issued by the regional government.
In addition to the preventive emergency measures that were put in place, the prefecture issued a statement inviting Rome's residents "to leave their houses only for work reasons or most important needs, and to avoid in any case underpasses and subways, basements and any low-lying areas that might be prone to flooding".
The mayor Ignazio Marino urged citizens not to use their cars throughout Thursday if not strictly necessary. All limited traffic zones in Rome's historic centre were intentionally left open to all cars in order to avoid possible congestion.
In addition to schools, the mayor ordered the closure of all archeological and historical sites, as well as cemeteries and the three main universities of Rome.
Marino also addressed Rome's citizens in a video message spread through social networks, warning that "meteorologists explain that Rome could find itself in a situation such as that of January 31st," when entire neighbourhoods and even the most central Via del Corso were flooded by rainwater.
A wave of exceptionally heavy rainfalls has hit several areas in central and northwest Italy in the last 48 hours. The Tuscan city of Carrara was flooded on Tuesday after two local rivers had burst their banks, and civil protection officers had to evacuate several hundreds people from their homes.
A foreign worker, who had been feared dead after the partial collapse of the river's embankment, was rescued by fire fighters in Carrara.
As the bad weather appeared to move towards south, the civil protection extended the alert to other central and southern Italian regions, up to Sicily.