 Thousands of people were left homeless on May 18 in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region after devastating floods swept through the northern region leaving at least nine dead helicopter crews continued to winch people to safety during the night after floodwaters invaded homes and residents lost electricity. Roads in and out of the region have been blocked and fire brigade units and amphibious vehicles helped the elderly to safety meteorologists are expecting a slight break in the weather but heavy rain is expected again over the weekend causing concern amongst inhabitants and the rescue services the torrential rain months of drought which had dried out the land reducing its capacity to absorb water and worsening the impact of the floods meteorologists said.