Italian emergency services airlifted a pregnant woman to safety using a basket as water surrounded a home in Ravenna, Emilia Romagna.

Footage shows the woman being rescued from a balcony amid the severe floods.

As of Wednesday, at least nine people have been killed and thousands have been evacuated from their homes after torrential rain triggered flooding and landslides in the northern region.

Some areas have received half their average rainfall in just 36 hours, civil protection minister Nello Musumeci said.