The Imola F1 paddock has been evacuated by the local police as they issued an evacuation note due to flood thread in the Emilia Romagna region.
Since the Imola circuit is very near to the Santerno river, the local organisers issued an evacuation letter for everyone present in the F1 paddock to leave the premises due to flood threat in the Emilia Romagna region ahead of the grand prix.
Rain has played havoc in the area for weeks which pushed Faenza-based AlphaTauri F1 team to release a solidarity statement during the Miami GP weekend. People lost lives, while the team had their employee families in trouble too due to excessive flooding.
Now closer to the Emilia Romagna GP, the rain threat remains to disrupt the weekend proceedings. It has been raining continuously and parts of the circuit areas has seen waterlogging already, as host of journalists have shared the same.
With couple of days still left for the F1 weekend to officially kick-off, there is no confirmation yet on cancellation or postponement. As of now the Emilia Romagna GP will take place as per the plans despite a red alert handed out for flooding.
The Imola weekend will not just see F1 happening, but it is also hosting the F2 and F3 races. Even if the grand prix goes ahead, the preparation towards it will be less than ideal as the waterlogging problem will not be easy for teams and or fans.
The forecast eases slightly as the weekend comes in but the weather can still change and it will take days to clear the water too: https://www.accuweather.com/en/it/imola/212984/daily-weather-forecast/212984
Alluvione in Emilia Romagna: la SS9 tra Cesena e Forlimpopoli è allagata. Le immagini dal drone #maltempo #alluvione #EmiliaRomagna #localteam pic.twitter.com/BLoEcR0d5I
— Local Team (@localteamtv) May 16, 2023
Continua a salire il livello del fiume Ronco in provincia di Forlì-Cesena: la situazione all'altezza di Meldola #maltempo #alluvione #EmiliaRomagna #localteam pic.twitter.com/rH8ZTukyrR
— Local Team (@localteamtv) May 16, 2023
⚠️ Il vient d'être demandé à toutes les équipes présentes sur le Circuit d'Imola d'évacuer les lieux dans les 30 mn. ⚠️
Les pluies torrentielles et un début d'inondation de certaines zones en sont évidemment la raison principale. pic.twitter.com/7ItwrFSA33— Julien FEBREAU (@Julien_FEBREAU) May 16, 2023
Los amigos de Jetzt nos enseñan cómo está hoy el TV compound en @autodromo pic.twitter.com/gEmfvhKRfO
— F1 DESDE DENTRO (@PressRacing) May 16, 2023
Así está ahora la situación del río que pasa al lado del circuito. Se ha evacuado al personal como precaución.
This is the situatuon right now of the river next to Imola circuit. The personnel has been evacuated as precaution. #f1 #EmiliaRomagnaGP pic.twitter.com/dflBCQK0ry
— Albert Fabrega (@AlbertFabrega) May 16, 2023
Subida del rio al lado del circuito de Imola de sábado a hoy.
The increase of level of the river next to the circuit from saturday to today. #f1 #EmiliaRomagnaGP pic.twitter.com/qqktJgKNvP
— Albert Fabrega (@AlbertFabrega) May 16, 2023
Grosse pluie et risque d’inondation à Imola. Le circuit est évacué pic.twitter.com/VmE4xXwhLV
— Laurent Dupin (@LaurentDupin_f1) May 16, 2023
There is a weather station at the track and this has already recorded 166 mm in the last two weeks. Round about 650 mm are typical in this region – for the whole year 😮
➡️ https://t.co/6BQ2FqNgLF pic.twitter.com/xr3TPZ5BfG
— Steffen Dietz (@sdietzf1) May 15, 2023
The #F1 staff is currently being evacuated from the track❗️
The Santero river right next to the circuit is already flooding at a higher level than during the enormous rainfall at the beginning of May. And it will keep on raining at least 24 hours from now.#ImolaGP #Imola 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/Y4t2b9Jhgr
— Steffen Dietz (@sdietzf1) May 16, 2023
The problem is what is coming next. Models agree on 50-100 mm during the next 24h in the #Imola region, but with peaks > 100 mm in the Apennines, where the Santerno river comes from. A flood exceeding level 3 is in sight, with lower areas of the @autodromoimola at risk as well. pic.twitter.com/h1apntJwzb
— Michele Salmi (@michele_salmi) May 16, 2023
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