Yesterday storm Alex brought an immense amount of rainfall to the mountains behind the Riviera. Rivers overflowed their banks and poured down on towns in France and Italy all the way to the coast, dragging trees, cars and even houses with them. Among those hit was Ventimiglia, the centre of which was engulfed by mud. The rushing debris was too much for the iconic Squarciafichi footbridge, most of which disappeared under the torrent.

A clean-up was almost immediately put underway but it will be a major undertaking to clear away all the mud, and it’s far too early to know what will be done about the missing footbridge.

Events of the last few days are well covered by social media and by the regular news outlets (search for “Storm Alex”), so rather than reproduce photos we will just express our sadness at the losses so many will have felt and the hope that things can be put back to normal before too long.