The Sardinian town of Olbia is among the areas worst-hit by Cyclone Cleopatra.
As night fell on Tuesday emergency workers were starting the task of clearing up.
(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) MARIO FRANCHINI, FIREMAN, SAYING:
"The shops here have all been flooded and are without electricity. Now we have about a metre of water but looking at the marks it looks like there was originally two metres."
At least 18 people are now known to have died when the storm hit the Italian island late on Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
Severe flooding has left hundreds homeless.
The Italian government's putting up 27 million dollars of immediate emergency funds.
Sardinia's regional government's approved another 6.7 million.
The bad weather was forecast to clear up on Wednesday.
