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'Medicane' Takes Shape Off Already Storm-Battered Southern Italy

Satellite imagery from EUMETSAT’s Meteosat 11 and NOAA’s RAMMB-Cira, captured on October 28, shows a “medicane” forming in the Mediterranean Sea near Sicily, which has already seen days of deadly flooding.

A medicane is a cyclone-producing storm in the Mediterranean Sea with tropical storm or hurricane-like features, 3B Meteo reports. The storm has the potential to bring life-threatening wind and flooding to areas in the Mediterranean, including the southernmost tip of the Italian mainland and the island of Sicily, which are forecast to bear the brunt of the storm.

Italy’s Department of Civil Protection issued orange alerts, indicating “moderate criticality,” for areas in Sicily on Wednesday ahead of the storm, which is currently subtropical.

Local news reports said shops and residences in the city of Catania have been boarded up in anticipation of the storm. Credit: RAMMB-CIRA/EUMETSAT via Storyful