2 DOZENS SUNK AS STORMS BATTER ITALY
Dozens of boats were sunk or destroyed when intense gales battered the north of Italy in November. Winds of up to 110mph were reported and two tornadoes tore through the coastal town of Terracina, ripping roofs from buildings and leaving one dead and ten injured.
The harbour of Rapallo, close to Genoa, suffered particularly catastrophic damage after the outer breakwater failed in the face of intense battering from 10m waves. The reinforced concrete wall crumbled exposing hundreds of boats to the full force of the gale. Dozens of craft, including several large superyachts, were sunk on their berths or ripped from their moorings and washed up along the shoreline.
Local media reports claim one of the badly damaged yachts belonged to former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi. Nineteen people also had to be rescued by firefighters after becoming trapped when the breakwater collapsed.
Boats in the nearby port of Portofino fared better, but the entire town was cut off by a landslide and in Venice the lagoon waters rose dramatically, flooding much of the city and leaving the mosaic floors of St Mark’s Basilica under 3ft of water.
Elsewhere in Europe, heavy snowfall across south-central France measured 40cm (16 inches) in some places, causing chaos and cutting off electricity to 200,000 homes. An MBY forum user also reported his boat sunk after it was washed off the deck of a delivery ship, east of Corsica, en route to Gibraltar.