So far, 13 people have died as a result of the floods in northern Italy, which have forced about 13,000 people from their homes.

Six months of rain fell in a day and a half, causing more than 20 rivers to overflow their banks.

Almost all rivers between the northeast coast and Rimini and to Bologna. They were recorded 280 landslides and a series of evacuations were ordered during the night.

“It was a very bad 48 hours. Water and mud flooded our entire village,” said the 71-year-old man. Roberta Lazzarini.

Heavy rain hit her house south of Bologna. Streets, houses and gardens were flooded and Roberta says she is still scared. “I have never seen anything like it here. We were stuck and didn’t know what to do. I just hope it doesn’t happen again.”

Firefighters helped residents flee their homes, including one 97 year old woman who was forced to leave her bedroom in a rubber boat.

“Our community was torn apart,” her daughter said. Roberta, Ineswho runs a local cafe in the main square. “We felt completely cut off, isolated, some of us were really scared.”

“We’ve had floods before, but never as bad as I remember,” said the 74-year-old. Lamieriwhen he was shoveling dirt out of his basement, where his son keeps groceries to sell in the gift shop he runs in central Bologna. “The road has turned into a river. We’ve lost all of our belongings that were stored down here. We estimate damage in the thousands of euros.”

55 year old lawyer Antonio Francesco Ricciutowho lives with his wife in a house by the river, was forced to leave on Tuesday evening and now lives with his daughter in a neighboring village.

“It was something no one expected,” he said, adding: “Before we left the house, the water level was rising every minute. When we got back yesterday… our living room was completely flooded. We’ll have to throw away most of our furniture.”