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The historic drought in northern Italy has led authorities to take drastic action, with Lombardy Governor Atilio Fontana declaring a state of emergency yesterday.
In the Piedmont and Lombardy areas, 125 municipalities have already banned or cut off water supplies to homes in the evening. Spanish authorities in Catalonia were forced to mobilize fire resources after three wildfires erupted simultaneously over an area of 1,100 hectares.
Fontana described the situation as “tragic” not only in Lombardy but also in Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. Eutilidalia, a water and energy company, has taken these steps amid a severe drought in areas across Italy’s longest river, the Bo. The River Responsibility Commission recorded the river’s lowest water level and worst crisis in 70 years.
“The situation is getting worse and worse,” Miuccio Percelli, general secretary of the Po River Commission, told ANSA, an Italian news agency. “It has not rained in some areas for 110 days,” he added. Dozens of municipalities already rely on water tanks because their tanks are now empty.
In Spain, authorities in Catalonia were forced to mobilize fire resources after three wildfires erupted simultaneously over an area of 1,100 hectares.
Professional teams
Firefighting services assisted professional teams, including helicopters, drones and special forces personnel to put out the blaze.
A small amount of rain fell and the fire spread like wildfire in the area affected by the heat wave. The area is extinguished by strong winds.
Most of the concerns are centered on the fire at Artesa de Secre, 130 kilometers northwest of Barcelona. The fire, which started the day before yesterday, has burnt about 500 hectares of forest. If not extinguished, firefighters fear it could spread to the Sikuri Valley and destroy 20,000 hectares of forest. Farmers in the area were urged to come out with their tractors to dig a trench to put out the fire.
The other two small fires were recorded in Corbera de Ebra and Casteller de la Ribeira. Each destroyed about 300 hectares of bush land.
Spain has been experiencing unusually early and long heat waves, with temperatures ranging from 35 to 40 degrees Celsius in most parts of the country since the beginning of the week.
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