Terrifying moment churning river of mud bursts its bank in Italy

This is the terrifying moment a 'tsunami of mud' crashed through an Italian Alpine town, sending people fleeing for their lives.

Saturn (severity, fearfulness (Piedmont regional governor Alberto Cirio said the damage was significant)) conjunct Gonggong  (floods, dams and levees, flood control (Italy has been faced with a series of deadly floods and storms in recent months)) square Admetos (dense material, tangible substances, ruptures (huge 'mud tsunami' smashed through a gate)).

Dramatic video shows the churning river of mud forming a huge wave as it burst its banks and slammed into a street following heavy rain in the town of Bardonecchia, near Turin in the Val di Susa valley. 

Horrified residents and tourists were sent running for their lives as the huge 'mud tsunami' smashed through a gate and sent debris flying towards them on Sunday evening.

Further video shows a thick wall of mud thundering down the river banks that pass through the Alpine town, blanketing cars with debris.

Rescuers desperately searched for five people believed to have been missing following the mudslide but authorities later said all residents had been accounted for and there were no victims.

Piedmont regional governor Alberto Cirio said the damage was significant and that he had already asked the national government for help.

Civil protection crews were en route to remove the debris from roads and to check the situation with the Frejus River, which was primarily involved, he said.

Firefighters said crews had rescued six people from an overturned camper overnight after it was swept away by the mudslide. 

Around 120 tourists and residents were evacuated from their hotels and homes as a result of the damage caused by the mudslide, ANSA news agency reported. 

They are now being accommodated in a camp set up by the Italian Red Cross in a local sports facility. 

The local police station in the town as well as the hotel La Betulla were damaged in the mudslide, and an entire fleet of police cars were destroyed by the thundering 'mud tsunami', reports say.  

Bardonecchia, located at 4,265ft (1,300m), is a popular destination for both winter mountain sports and summer hiking, and several streams, creeks and tributaries feed into it including the Frejus, Melezet and Rochemolles.

Two women were killed in the northern Monza and Brescia provinces after being crushed by falling trees, while a teenager was seriously injured when he was hit by a falling branch in the Veneto region.

In the area around nearby Brescia, a 16-year-old girl on a scout camp was killed when a tree fell on her tent, according to Italian news agencies. 

Firefighters evacuated the other members of the camp, taking them to a sports hall nearby, ANSA said. 

Tourist attractions also bore the brunt of the bad weather, as the Sforza Castle was shut after some tiles were brought down and rain was heavy enough to penetrate the glass-vaulted Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan's famed shopping arcade. 

Elsewhere in Europe, a 135mph tornado toppled a construction crane in Switzerland last month, killing one person, while ripping roofs off buildings. Storms also lashed France and Germany with torrential rain flooding streets in Berlin. 

And last week, heavy rains triggered landslides and flooding across southern Norway and Sweden last week, forcing communities to evacuate.

The Norwegian dam at the Braskereidfoss hydroelectric power plant, on the Glåma, Norway's longest and most voluminous river, burst on Wednesday after days of rain. 

It caused devastating floods, with footage showing wooden cabins floating down overflowing rivers. One clip shows a mobile home crashing into a bridge on Norway's Hemsilar river.

People were seen standing on the bridge as they watched caravans being swept away, crashing into the bridge and being crushed under the weight. 

The extreme weather in Scandinavia and northern Italy has been in stark contrast to that seen in southern Europe in recent weeks, with the likes of Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia and southern Italy all being ravaged by wildfires. 

Homes and hotels have been ravaged by the deadly wildfires that have swept across Europe, forcing thousands to be evacuated and thousands more to cancel their holidays. 

Greece, Italy, Algeria and Tunisia combined lost more than 1,350 square kilometers (520 square miles) to blazes that affected 120,000 people in late July, according to European Union estimates. 

And Greece is expecting even more extreme heat in the coming days after temperatures soared to temperatures of 47C in some parts of the Mediterranean. 

Minor planet keywords developed by Philip Sedgwick, used with permission http://philipsedgwick.com/

Source: dailymail.co.uk/