Italy: helicopters ferry flood victims to safety

MILAN – Italian firefighters used helicopters and rubber dinghies to evacuate stranded residents of a town in the northern region of Emilia Romagna that flooded when waters overran earthen dikes.

Video provided by firefighters Tuesday shows houses under water after the Enza River flooded its reinforced banks in the town of Lentigione. The news agency ANSA said about 1,000 people were evacuated, but a woman who answered the phone at the city hall was unable to confirm the numbers.

Firefighters also rescued three people and a dog with a rubber dinghy from the town of Colorno when the Parma river flooded.

Heavy rain and snow fall has hampered travel in stretches of northern Italy, with trains severely delayed between the coastal city of Genoa and Milan.