Storm Ciara struck the country’s northern regions, where winds reached speeds of over 200 kilometres per hour.
In the Lombard town of Traona, between Lake Como and Sondrio, a 77-year-old woman died after being hit by parts of a roof blown away by the gales.
Across northern and central Italy, emergency services were battling downed power lines, toppled trees and other dangerous debris, as well as wildfires fuelled by the strong winds.
In Piedmont, the roof of the Sant’Anna water plant in Vinadio and the roof of an apartment building in Turin blew off due to the strong winds, while a car overturned near Cafasse.
“The wind hasn’t let up; it’s impossible to reopen,” the plant’s CEO, Alberto Bertone, told reporters on Tuesday.
A truck parked near the Vinadio water plant, which was evacuated on Monday, also overturned.
In Susa Valley, intense winds sparked a new fire, which had broken out days before because of the drought.
In Alto Adige, the storm caused two power outages, which resulted in traffic jams in Bolzano.
Firefighters in Turin declared an “emergency” as they responded to hundreds of cases concerning issues such as trees and road signs collapsing and damaged roofs.
As of Tuesday, the fire department had reported 226 interventions in the Marche region, 180 in Piedmont and 166 in Abruzzo.
The storm is also linked to unusually high temperatures.
Cuneo registered 19°C while in Susa Valley the temperatures reached a record 20°C, forcing a number of ski resorts to shut down.
Further south, gale warnings were in place along the coasts of Lazio, Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, Puglia, Molise and Abruzzo.
Storm Ciara has killed at least seven people across Europe so far, battering Ireland and the UK first before sweeping across Sweden, France, Germany and Italy.
