Italy's Meloni leaves G7 summit early to tackle floods crisis

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is ready to leave the Group of Seven summit a day earlier to lead the response to flooding.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attend a meeting during the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima, Japan May 20, 2023 Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

HIROSHIMA/ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to leave the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima a day earlier than scheduled to lead the response to flooding which hit the north of her country this week, two sources said on Saturday.

Torrential rains devastated the eastern side of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, killing 14 people, causing billions of euros worth of damage and hitting agriculture particularly hard.

Italy's government will hold a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to decide on measures to help people to cope with the emergency.

A view shows a flooded street after heavy rains hit Italy's Emilia Romagna region, in Lugo, Italy, May 19, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Earlier in the day, Meloni thanked the G7 leaders and everyone from other countries who had expressed solidarity with Italy and those affected by the flooding.

"Your closeness is a tangible sign of our cohesion in difficult times. Thank you," she said in a tweet.

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Angelo Amante, writing by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Gavin Jones and Giles Elgood)