The sole survivor of a family who drowned in devastating floods in Sicily has spoken of his "nightmare".
Giuseppe Giordano, 35, was with 12 members of two families sheltering at the rustic property in Casteldaccia when a river burst its banks and swamped the house.
The overall death toll from storms across Italy has now reached 32 after days of heavy rain and winds, according to ANSA news agency.
Mr Giordano, whose two children, Federico, 15, and Rachael, 1, were both killed, has given a harrowing account of the night.
He said: "The windows became dark, the lights went out, a layer of mud moved on the floor.
"We moved to the other room, my son Federico reassured me: 'Dad, I'm thinking of Rachael, and he picks up his little sister. 'Let's go, let's go,' I say. Now I think my son was a hero."
He said he tried to get into his car but the high waters forced the doors shut.
"Out of desperation I clung to a tree. And so I survived," he added.
His wife Stefania was also killed, along with his parents, sister Monia and brother Marco. His brother in law Luca Rughoo and his daughter were the only other survivors.
Mr Rughoo had taken his nine-year old daughter out for dessert, and the two returned to find the destruction as Mr Giordano was still clinging to a tree.
He waded through the mud to search for his wife, three-year-old son, and mother, but they were already dead, he told La Republicca.
Mr Rughoo said: "I was desperate. The level was high, the debris and the water came up to my chin. I gasped and looked for hands to grasp. I shouted the names of my child, my wife, my nephews, my mother. I felt like I was in a nightmare.
"In front of me was death, behind me my daughter was screaming 'Daddy come back to me. Do not leave me'.
"I had to choose between life and the possibility of not making it. Without my wife and son I do not know how to go on. Francesco died because of me."
Correre Della Sera newspaper reported that the property was branded illegal as it was built too close to the river, known to be flood-prone, and was ordered for demolition in 2008.
The Italian government has declared a state of emergency as more heavy winds and rains are expected this week, mainly in the northern mainland and islands of Sardinia and Sicily.
A German couple died in Sardinia and now 12 people have been killed in Sicily, and missing councillor, Alessandro Scavone, 44, was found dead, after he was dragged from his vehicle near Vicari on the island.
A landslide near Belluno in the northern Veneto region cut off the area after days of storms, and floods submerged most of Venice's streets.
Police are still searching countryside near the village of Corleone for paediatrician Giuseppe Liotta, 40, after his car was swept off a road on the way to Giornale di Sicilia reports.
Across the island, in the town of Cammarata, near the historic tourist destination Agrigento, the fire department said divers are working to recover the bodies of two people swept away while driving on a road near the flooded Saraceno River.
Also in Agrigento province, firefighters rescued 14 people from a hotel in the town of Montevago, which was threatened by floodwaters from the Belice River.
Other storms had battered northern Italy earlier in the week, uprooting trees near Alpine valleys and leaving several Italian villages without electricity or road access for days.
