Italy declares state of natural disaster for storm-beaten area

ROME, Sept 4 (AFP) - Italy Thursday declared its storm-beaten northeast, where torrents and mudslides caused two deaths last month, a natural disaster area.

The classification, announced by the civil protection unit, will unblock emergency relief funds for the region around Udine, near the Austrian and Slovenian border, which suffered up to one billion euros (1.1 billion dollars) of damage, according to authorities.

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Forty million euros has already been released in emergency funds, and regional authorities have allotted 3.5 million euros to help two rural valleys which were washed out in a killer storm on August 29.

One person drowned during the storm in a mudslide, while another died when a small hotel collapsed on a mountainside.

After months of drought and a crippling heat wave, Italy now faces the risk of mudslides as the loose, dry earth washes away in autumn storms.

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