CThe wave of bad weather that has been affecting our country for over 48 hours continues to lash Italy with storms and torrential rain, winds of over one hundred kilometers per hour and storm surges with waves of up to seven meters that are lashing the coasts. And unfortunately the death toll continues to rise: at six yesterday, another 3 were added: a woman died in Dimaro, in Val di Sole, a volunteer firefighter hit by a tree while he was carrying out an intervention in San Martino in Badia, in Alto Adige, and a 63-year-old kite-surfer thrown onto the cliffs of Cattolica by very strong gusts of wind.
The 5.800 firefighters engaged in dealing with the emergency have carried out a total of over seven thousand interventions since yesterday morning for floods, landslides and removal of fallen trees, especially in Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, where some towns including Santa Caterina in Valfurva are isolated, and Piedmont. The situation is particularly critical in Liguria, where over 20 thousand people are without electricity. Storm surge in RAPALLO, dozens of yachts on the dock. The Genoa port is closed.
Portofino is isolated following the storm that hit the entire Gulf of Tigullio and severely damaged the provincial road, while in Genoa the airport was closed after the stormy sea brought debris onto the runway, making it impassable. All flights were cancelled and the airport will remain closed until 14 pm to allow for technical checks and work on the systems. In the Ligurian capital, even though the red alert has ended, schools remain closed due to the damage caused in the city by yesterday's rain and windstorms.
And there was also heavy damage at the port of Rapallo, where part of the dam collapsed: 19 people who were stuck on the walls – some of them suffering from hypothermia – were rescued hours later by firefighters, while dozens of super yachts, including that of the Berlusconi family, broke their moorings and, pushed by the sea and wind, crashed against the coast. At the car terminal in Savona, however, several Maseratis ready for export were destroyed due to a fire caused by a short circuit caused by the flooding of the warehouse. The situation is difficult, although improving, also in Trentino-Alto Adige. A tornado blew the roofs off some houses in Valsugana, while several homes were evacuated in Moena, Mattarello and Tezze di Grigno. In Dimaro the Melendrio torrent overflowed: 200 people were evacuated as a precaution, while there was nothing that could be done for a woman who was swept away by a landslide in the Campeggio area. The Adige is not causing any particular problems at the moment, thanks also to the decision to open a tunnel that has allowed over 500 cubic meters of water per second to flow towards Lake Garda. There has also been serious disruption in Alto Adige, especially in Val Pusteria, where the Drava and Rio Sesto have burst their banks, flooding San Candido and Sesto, and at the entrance to Valgardena, in Chiusa, where the Isarco is expected to flood.
Article published on 30 October 2018 - 09:55
