ROME, Sept. 16 -- At least ten people have been killed and four are reported missing after flash floods hit the Marche region in central Italy overnight, creating what a local mayor described as an "apocalyptic situation."

Violent thunderstorms shook Marche and the surrounding areas late on Thursday and on Friday, sparking flash floods that uprooted trees, destroyed homes and swept away vehicles.

Rescue officials said that as of late Friday local time, the floods killed at least ten people and at least four others were still missing, including an eight-year-old boy.

According to Carlo Manfredi, mayor of the town of Castelleone di Suasa, one of the areas hit hardest by the flooding, the boy was lost after he and his mother had escaped the approaching floodwaters from their car. Manfredi said the mother survived, but the boy was swept away from her arms.

Also missing late on Friday were a 17-year-old girl and her mother, aged 56. The authorities did not disclose information about the fourth missing person.

According to accounts on social media, dozens of other people managed to escape the floods by climbing onto rooftops or into trees.

According to news reports, at least six months' worth of rain fell in some areas in the span of a few hours.

Severe property damage was reported across Marche and in the neighboring region of Tuscany, with heavy rainfall also reported in Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise and Lazio in central Italy and in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and Liguria in northern Italy.

Italy's President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Mario Draghi issued statements of solidarity with the residents of the hard-hit areas.

Draghi on Friday said that the region would receive the financial support needed to repair the damage and to set up temporary housing for those displaced by the tragedy.

So far this year, the weather in Italy has been the most extreme on record. The summer was unusually hot and dry, with water levels of the country's rivers dropping to historic lows, reducing agricultural output by a third or more.

The Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of Italy's National Research Council said in August that 2022 was expected to be the hottest year since records began in 1800.

In July, a massive glacier in northern Italy's Dolomite Mountains collapsed, killing 11 people and severely injuring eight others. Last month, violent thunderstorms ravaged parts of northern Italy, causing flooding and mudslides causing large-scale property damage.

A recent report published by Coldiretti, the largest representative organization of Italian farmers, cited data from the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD), according to which the latest round of storms in Italy has brought the number of extreme weather events in Italy this summer to 1,642 -- five times the average number from a decade ago.

  - Xinhua