Floods that have killed at least 13 people in northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region have caused billions of euros in damage and hit agriculture particularly hard, the region’s governor said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

The Italian city of Lugo is completely floodedPhoto: Nicola Marfisi/AGF/Sipa Press/Profimedia

Torrential rains this week devastated the eastern part of the region, known as Romagna, with up to 300 landslides, 23 rivers overflowing, nearly 400 roads damaged or destroyed and 42 municipalities flooded.

“We are facing another earthquake,” Emilia-Romagna President Stefano Bonacchini told reporters, recalling the seismic events that struck the region in 2012, destroying thousands of homes.

Noting that “almost everything” has since been rebuilt, Bonacchini said “this experience has shown us that it can be done and we will rebuild everything (again), I’m sure of that.”

The number of people killed as a result of the flood is increasing, material losses have already reached almost 1 billion euros

The death toll rose to 13 on Thursday when four more bodies were recovered, compared to figures announced by authorities on Wednesday evening. In the small town of Rus, two people aged 73 and 71 were found dead together in their home, local authorities said.

More than 5,000 farms were flooded in the Emilia-Romagna region, considered the “fruit orchard of Italy,” according to Coldiretti, an agricultural association.

“We have already estimated almost 1 billion euros in damages (from the floods), so imagine how much that number will increase” with the new disaster, Bonacchini said, adding that it was too early to give exact figures.

The floods are the latest in a series of extreme weather events to hit Italy over the past year, as extreme natural disasters become a regular part of life.

The government has pledged an additional €20 million in emergency aid, on top of the €10 million allocated in response to earlier floods two weeks ago that killed at least two people.

Emilia-Romagna-based luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari RACE.MI has announced a €1 million donation.

At least 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes, and many of those who remained in flooded areas were without power. One of the lifeless bodies, that of a woman, washed up from her home on a beach about 20 km away.