Ravaged by floods and mudslides, northern Italy looked for relief Saturday but found only more rain.
From storm-whipped canals in Venice to mud-clogged alpine passes, the miseries continued to mount. Helicopters were used to evacuate about 250 people from mountain villages cut off by mudslides.Torrential rains and high winds closed Milan's Linate airport for nearly an hour. In the Italian Alps near Bolzano, plunging temperatures caused June snow flurries.
In Tuscany, where flash floods earlier in the week killed at least 11 people, civil defense officials worried that continuing rain would send more mud and debris sliding down the hills. The forecast was for clouds to remain through the weekend.
Searchers poked through mud and the ruins of collapsed homes for seven people reported missing. Coast guard officials recovered the body of a man believed swept out to sea by the floods.
More then 400 soldiers have set up field hospitals and aid stations in the area.
The government declared a state of emergency in northeastern Italy where crews were digging cars out from mud in search of possible victims.
Mudslides clogged main mountain passes over the Italian-Austrian border and caused traffic jams in Austria, where motorists lined up to use the sole mountain pass left open.
Passengers aboard the Rome-Vienna train were temporarily stranded in the Italian town of Canal del Ferro. They continued their journey on another train via neighboring Slovenia.