The 2013 Sardinia floods took place in and around the

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

n town of

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

, Italy between 17 and 19 November 2013. They also affected other parts of northeastern Sardinia and killed at least 18 people. Thousands of people were left homeless. The places which suffered the most damage were Olbia, and in general the whole region of Gallura. The flood caused damages of over 1 billion

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

Impact

The flooding was associated with an

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

in the western Mediterranean Basin in November 2013, named Cyclone Cleopatra (also Ruven by the Free University of Berlin) which developed slow-moving embedded thunderstorm complexes, as cold air flowing from the north entered the Mediterranean and interacted with warm moist air to the east. Continuous rain over two days resulted in the overflowing of the rivers in the northeastern part of Sardinia, flooding villages like Torpè and towns such as

Nuoro Nuoro ( ; ) is a city and (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of Mount Ortobene. It is the capital of the province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,347 (2011), it is the sixth-largest city in Sardinia. Its ...

and Oristano. The cyclone brought extremely heavy rain to the island of Sardinia as more than of rain fell in 90 minutes on the morning of 19 November, resulting in flooding and swollen rivers bursting their banks. The area around the north-eastern city of

has been affected the worst, where up to of water has left cars and homes submerged. Further afield, ferry services between

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and the islands of

Capri Capri ( , ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

, Ischia and Procida were affected by gale-force winds and heavy seas, with bad weather spreading to

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

and

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

on the Southern Italian mainland. As far north as

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, authorities were monitoring the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

river.

Aftermath

At least 18 people died as a result of the flooding in Sardinia. Enrico Letta, the Italian prime minister, declared a state of emergency on the island, describing it as a "national tragedy", promising 20 million

for the reconstruction. As of 2014, the aforementioned funds have never been assigned. On 19 November the Parliament of the European Union observed a minute's silence in memory of the victims, anticipated from condolence by the president of European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso. The date for the national day of mourning was established for 22 November,La Repubblica - ''Sardegna: Governo proclama per domani lutto nazionale''
/ref> with the flag of Italy at half-mast.

References

External links

European Commission Emergency Response Centre ECHO Daily Map of 19 Nov 2013: Italy - Severe WeatherUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center, CIMSS Satellite Blog: Strong Storm in the Mediterranean
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203012546/http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Images/ImageLibrary/DAT_2085290.html , date=2013-12-03

2013 Sardinia 2013 meteorology 2013 in Italy 2013 floods in Europe 2013 natural disasters Floods in Italy History of Sardinia