Rome on Alert for Tiber Breaking Its Banks

Officials put Rome on a state of alert for the Tiber breaking its banks Friday, after days of unrelenting rain and thunderstorms that the mayor likened to an "earthquake" striking the Italian capital.

Rome's mayor has already declared a state of emergency after severe storms early Thursday flooded underpasses, disrupted train and flight services and led to the death of one person.

"We've been hit by a wave of exceptionally bad weather that has affected all of Italy," Mayor Gianni Alemanno told La Repubblica newspaper when asked why a torrential downpour was enough to bring the Italian capital to its knees.

"In Rome, it has been like an earthquake, with more rain in one night than normally comes down in all of December.

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