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Thousands have been made homeless as heavy flooding continues to take its toll in Italy. Nine people have died in recent days, and authorities fear the figure could continue to rise. Dramatic photos show rescuers battling through deep water to rescue people and animals in need. Lifeboats have been used to reach those unable to leave their home due to the floods. Residents in the north of Italy have been told to get to higher ground amid fears rain-swollen rivers will again burst their banks. The warning from officials comes after flooding killed at least eight people, forced the evacuation of 5,000 and suspended some train services. Heavy rains and floods also forced Formula One to cancel this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to not overtax emergency crews already stretched thin in responding to the emergency. Days of rainstorms stretched across a swath of northern Italy and the Balkans, where ‘apocalyptic’ floods, landslides and evacuations were also reported in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia. IMAGETAGGOESHERE A church is flooded with water after heavy rains hit Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, in Castel Bolognese, IMAGETAGGOESHERE Firefighters evacuate a terrified dog from a flooded house in the city of Faenza IMAGETAGGOESHERE ‘Apocalyptic’ floods have destroyed homes and transformed roads into rivers IMAGETAGGOESHERE The regions impacted recently had faced droughts, which meant the soil was too dry to absorb the sudden lashings of rain The president of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, said many people remain unaccounted for. Italian civil protection minister Nello Musemeci called for a new nationwide hydraulic engineering plan to protect communities from future floods and landslides. At a briefing to reporters, he said an average of 200mm of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the region. Some areas registered 500mm in the same period. ‘If you consider that this region averages 1,000mm of rain in a year, you realise the impact that these rains have had in these hours,’ Mr Musemeci said. IMAGETAGGOESHERE Klaudia Cepa cries while standing in her flood affected house in Faenza IMAGETAGGOESHERE Mailboxes are covered with mud in some properties IMAGETAGGOESHERE A rescuer walks through Cesena, a shopping center completely flooded after the overflow of the Savio river IMAGETAGGOESHERE Calls have been made for a new action plan to protect communities from future flooding conditions Thousands have been made homeless as heavy flooding continues to take its toll in Italy. Nine people have died in recent days, and authorities fear the figure could continue to rise. Dramatic photos show rescuers battling through deep water to rescue people and animals in need. Lifeboats have been used to reach those unable to leave their home due to the floods. Residents in the north of Italy have been told to get to higher ground amid fears rain-swollen rivers will again burst their banks. The warning from officials comes after flooding killed at least eight people, forced the evacuation of 5,000 and suspended some train services. Heavy rains and floods also forced Formula One to cancel this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to not overtax emergency crews already stretched thin in responding to the emergency. Days of rainstorms stretched across a swath of northern Italy and the Balkans, where ‘apocalyptic’ floods, landslides and evacuations were also reported in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia. IMAGETAGGOESHERE A church is flooded with water after heavy rains hit Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, in Castel Bolognese, IMAGETAGGOESHERE Firefighters evacuate a terrified dog from a flooded house in the city of Faenza IMAGETAGGOESHERE ‘Apocalyptic’ floods have destroyed homes and transformed roads into rivers IMAGETAGGOESHERE The regions impacted recently had faced droughts, which meant the soil was too dry to absorb the sudden lashings of rain The president of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, said many people remain unaccounted for. Italian civil protection minister Nello Musemeci called for a new nationwide hydraulic engineering plan to protect communities from future floods and landslides. At a briefing to reporters, he said an average of 200mm of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the region. Some areas registered 500mm in the same period. ‘If you consider that this region averages 1,000mm of rain in a year, you realise the impact that these rains have had in these hours,’ Mr Musemeci said. IMAGETAGGOESHERE Klaudia Cepa cries while standing in her flood affected house in Faenza IMAGETAGGOESHERE Mailboxes are covered with mud in some properties IMAGETAGGOESHERE A rescuer walks through Cesena, a shopping center completely flooded after the overflow of the Savio river IMAGETAGGOESHERE Calls have been made for a new action plan to protect communities from future flooding conditions