Imola F1 cancellation: Fourteen dead, rivers breaking banks and hospital flooded in Italy as RED ALERT weather continues in Emilia Romagna region

Imola Flooding Composite Image including images of people being rescued as well as the 2022 Imola GP — Photo: © LAT Images

Imola race cancellation

Imola F1 cancellation: Fourteen dead, rivers breaking banks and hospital flooded in Italy as RED ALERT weather continues

The crisis across the region goes on – GPFans is thinking of those affected

Ilaria Mastio

Friday 19 May 2023 09:58

The unfolding crisis in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy continues to worsen after F1 decided to cancel this weekend's race at Imola.

Fourteen people have now died whilst multiple rivers have broken their banks and a hospital has been flooded with more rain forecast to fall ahead of this weekend.

A red alert weather warning remains in place for the region where the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is being held as emergency services battle to contain the devastation caused by the flooding.

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As the nearby Santerno River's water level continues to rise, Formula 1 spoke to local authorities and emergency services and decided it was not safe to host the race.

Lives lost in devastation

A man perished on the ground floor of a house in the open countryside where he lived with his wife, who was rescued by emergency services. Another 70-year-old man died in Ronta di Cesena, where the Savio River flooded. His wife remains missing. In Ravenna, authorities are trying to recover the body of another person who is currently missing and more cases continue to be reported of lives lost and in danger.

More than a dozen rivers have burst their banks as people battle for their lives, homes and livelihoods. In Riccione, earlier today, the hospital’s emergency room flooded, meaning that patients may need to be moved or evacuated.

Reasons for Emilia Romagna Grand Prix cancellation

Officials from F1, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and regional authorities met on Wednesday morning and took the decision to cancel the race, after the Italian Deputy Prime Minister added his voice to those calling for that to happen.

A statement released by F1 read: "The Formula 1 community wants to send it’s thoughts to the people and communities affected by the recent events in the Emilia-Romagna region. We also want to pay tribute to the work of the emergency services who are doing everything they can to help those in need.

"Following discussions between Formula 1, the President of the FIA, the competent authorities including the relevant Ministers, the President of the Automobile Club of Italy, the President of Emilia Romagna Region, the Mayor of the City and the promoter the decision has been taken not to proceed with the Grand Prix weekend in Imola.

"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. It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time."

Marco Panieri, mayor of Imola: “It was unanimously decided not to race the F1 Grand Prix out of respect for the situation in which we find ourselves and to allow us to concentrate all the work and efforts of staff on the emergency and for the support of people in difficulty who have been hit very hard in the past few weeks.

“At a later time, far from this emergency, we will be able to resume the dialogue between all the subjects involved so far to continue together in this collaboration that led us to the F1 Grand Prix in Imola.”

Emilia Romagna and red alert weather – what happened

The bad weather in Emilia Romagna started a few weeks ago, causing great damage to the region, according to reports.

Trains on various lines have been closed and throughout Emilia-Romagna, the situation is worrying: 10 rivers (Idice, Samoggia, Savio, Marzeno, Voltre, Marecchia, Pisciatello, Ausa, Uso and Montone) have exceeded level 3 of the hydrometric threshold.

On the Voltre, a tributary of the Ronco, for example, has reached the highest water level in 20 years with the flood wave reaching 2.46 metres.

Meanwhile, the residents of Faenza have been posting photos and messages on social media asking for help because their homes are flooded by water. The AlphaTauri team, based in Faenza, posted fundraising on their social media accounts to help those affected by the storm in Emilia Romagna.

The red alert is now extended until Thursday, the 19th of May. Everyone at GPFans sends our prayers and best wishes to the people affected.