Man missing as torrential rains flood northern Italy

Cars are blocked in flooded streets in Milan (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse/AP)

A wave of violent rainstorms battered northern Italy on Thursday, flooding the financial hub of Milan and raising fears for the life of a man who was swept away on a tractor in the Piedmont region.

Footage from state TV RAI showed the wheel of the vehicle still visible inside the Orco creek, near Turin, where the tractor overturned in muddy water.