This weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in northern Italy has been cancelled because of deadly floods in the region.
The heavy rain in a drought-struck region of northern Italy have swelled rivers over their banks, killing at least five people and forcing the evacuation of about 5000 people.
Days of rainstorms stretched across a broad swath of northern Italy and the Balkans, where “apocalyptic” floods, landslides and evacuations were also reported in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia.
Italian Civil Protection Minister Nello Musemeci said five people were killed in flooding that struck Emilia-Romagna particularly hard, forcing the evacuation of thousands in two dozen flooded towns.
At a briefing, Mr Musemeci said that he hoped reports of people who were unaccounted for would turn out to be false alarms.
He called for a new nationwide hydraulic engineering plan to adapt to the impact of increasing incidents of floods and landslides, noting that an average of 200 millimetres of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the region, with some areas registering 500mm in that period.
“If you consider that this region averages 1000 millimetres of rain in a year, you realise the impact that these rains have had in these hours,” Mr Musemeci said.
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Safety-first priority
Formula One said it made the decision for safety reasons and to avoid any extra burden on the emergency services, after consulting with Italian political figures.
“The decision has been taken because it is not possible to safely hold the event for our fans, the teams and our personnel, and it is the right and responsible thing to do given the situation faced by the towns and cities in the region,” F1 said in a statement.
“It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.”
Formula One personnel had earlier been told to stay away from the track after floods affected large parts of the Emilia-Romagna region.
Some residents of the nearby city of Imola were warned to move to higher floors of their homes.
The Santerno River runs next to the track.
Matteo Salvini, the infrastructure minister in Italy’s government, had requested the race be cancelled to favour the flow of resources and aid to the hardest-hit areas of the flooding.
It is the second race on the 2023 calendar to be cancelled.
The Chinese Grand Prix was scheduled for April but was cancelled in December amid concerns about pandemic-related restrictions.
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If the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix is not rescheduled – something which appears unlikely given F1’s packed calendar – the season will have 22 races, the same as last year, rather than setting a record for most F1 races in a year with 23.
The AlphaTauri team, which is based in nearby Faenza and is the closest team to the circuit, issued an appeal for donations to help local people on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, our town of Faenza has once again experienced significant rainfall and subsequent flooding,” the team said on Twitter.
The Emilia-Romagna GP was meant to be the start of three weeks of back-to-back-to-back races.
The Monaco Grand Prix is on May 28 and the Spanish GP is a week later.
F1 chief hails emergency services
F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali says the cancellation was the right one for local families in the region.
Formula One said it made the decision for safety reasons and to avoid any extra burden on the emergency services, after consulting with Italian political figures.
“It is such a tragedy to see what has happened to Imola and Emilia-Romagna, the town and region that I grew up in and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the flooding and the families and communities affected,” Mr Domenicali said.
At least five people have died in the flooding and 5000 more have been evacuated, while electricity supplies and cell phone networks have been severely affected.
Thousands of fans were expected at the circuit from Friday for practice sessions ahead of the race, adding more load to an already stretched transport system.
“I want to express my gratitude and admiration for the incredible emergency services who are working tirelessly to help those who need help and alleviate the situation – they are heroes and the whole of Italy is proud of them,” Mr Domenicali said.
“The decision that has been taken is the right one for everyone in the local communities and the F1 family as we need to ensure safety and not create extra burden for the authorities while they deal with this very awful situation.”
