Italy had already declared a state of emergency last month for Calabria, at the foot of Italy's boot, and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia after Storm Harry wreaked havoc on seaside roads and homes.

In the past 48 hours, Calabria has faced a new spate of weather-related problems, including "violent gusts, cloudbursts, storm surges and a wave of bad weather that has caused landslides, flooding, swollen rivers and collapsed embankments in various areas of our region," Calabria's president, Roberto Occhiuto, said in a statement.

The region's agriculture, livestock and fishing industries "have been brought to their knees by the exceptionally intense wave that devastated the countryside, crops and rural infrastructure", he added.

There were no victims or missing recorded, he said.

In the eastern town of Cassano all'Ionio in the province of Cosenza, the Crati river overflowed its banks and caused flooding in the Laghi di Sibari area, as well as the nearby archaeological park of Sibari, the town said in a statement.

On Friday, Mayor Gianpaolo Iacobini encouraged residents near the river to leave their homes for higher ground. Media reports said around 500 people were later evacuated.

National broadcaster Rai showed video images of entire streets and agricultural land submerged in brown water Saturday, and people on balconies waiting for the floods to subside.

Firefighters said they had performed approximately 2,000 interventions in the past 72 hours in Calabria, Sardinia and Sicily due to the weather.