Residents battle storm lashing southern Italy

In a brief respite from torrential rain, shop owners sought to dry out their businesses after widespread flooding swamped the Sicilian town on Tuesday turning streets into rivers.

At least two people have died and one person still missing since the storm first hit over the weekend.

''It is not possible that in a city like Catania, canals like this, that are already problematic, do not undergo proper maintenance," said resident Nicola Sapuppo.

"They now talk about climate change but what has really changed for the worse is the way they manage these structures. They must be cleaned every year otherwise we'll find ourselves always with flooded homes,'' he said.

Cleaning her house after the flooding Carmelo Mondio said it was not the first time her home had been flooded.

''Plenty of water entered (my house) in these two days, inside the drawers, on the floor. There is still mud (on the floor) because we haven't managed to clean it," she said.

Weather experts warned the storm was expected to hit once again on Thursday and Friday.