Bad weather continues to rage and lash the South, with intense rain and thunderstorms which are causing flooding, inconvenience and critical issues in various areas.
Dozens of homes flooded, cars stuck in the underbank of the port of Sottomonastero, mud in many streets even in the centre, the Ponte and Valle streams overflowed with debris which also ended up on the beach and in the sea. This is the provisional balance of the storm that hit Lipari during the night, in the Aeolian archipelago (Messina). Numerous interventions by the firefighters also helped motorists. It all happened between 1 and 1.40 am when the storm reached its maximum intensity.
Waterspouts in the Trapani area, eleven families displaced
Eleven families were left homeless due to the passage of two waterspouts in the Trapani area yesterday. There are three, for a total of seven people, who were unable to sleep in their homes last night because they were uninhabitable or destroyed in Marsala. The data was confirmed by the Municipality which gave hospitality to a family of three people in a hotel, while the other two were hosted by friends and relatives. In Petrosino, where the waterspout caused considerable damage, eight families have been displaced: four are guests of the Municipality in a hotel in the area, as confirmed by the mayor Giacomo Anastasi. Four others, however, are guests of relatives.
The Municipality of Petrosino has requested a national state of emergency due to the damage caused yesterday by the tornado. The municipal council, chaired by mayor Giacomo Anastasi, approved a resolution to ask the Sicilian Region to activate the necessary procedures and guarantee the technical, operational and financial support essential to deal with the consequences of the event.
The municipal offices, in conjunction with the municipal civil protection operations centre, are involved in inspections and damage recognition, "in order to identify intervention priorities and quantify the resources necessary for the safety and restoration of any damaged infrastructure". "Petrosino cannot be left alone to face the consequences of a meteorological event of this magnitude - says the mayor - The municipal administration is doing its part, but now it is essential that the Region and the national government also assume their responsibilities, guaranteeing adequate resources and timely interventions. Concrete responses are needed to secure the territory, restore damaged infrastructure and support those who have suffered the consequences of this emergency. We expect that the gravity of the situation will be followed by concrete commitments and certain timescales".
He ends up with his car in a sinkhole that opened up after a storm in Naples, safe
A man ended up with his car in a sinkhole that opened in the Materdei district of Naples after the heavy rains of the last few hours. He was saved by the timely intervention of the inhabitants of the building: the hole, in which a scooter also ended up, opened up in the ground of the building's patio. For the protagonist of the story a bad shock but the fortune of being able to tell it. According to what Pino De Stasio, councilor of the Second Municipality of Naples, underlines, "only due to a miraculous event the irreparable did not happen in Vico della Neve in Materdei. A very dangerous chasm opened in a road made of Vesuvian paving stones and a car with a person on board ended up inside.
This paving would need ongoing maintenance. Not about extraordinary interventions that are of no use, done every now and then with bitumen, which is totally useless on these ancient roads. Now we will have to verify what the origin of this sinkhole was, but the problem is upstream." According to De Stasio "the interventions on the ancient roads of our Municipality are only emergency. There is no overall vision of how these roads must be maintained in their structural fullness, in their safety and in their aesthetic beauty. We are talking about the ancient heart of Naples. Of roads that are heritage. Which cannot be patched up with bitumen like any "modern" road. A serious ordinary maintenance plan is needed for the Vesuvian paving, I have reported it in writing several times. Before tragedy happens."
Since the early hours of yesterday, following the exceptional wave of bad weather which is affecting the Neapolitan area in particular, Anas has been working to manage the flooding which occurred on the state road 7 Quater "Domitiana", in Giugliano in Campania (Naples), in the stretch between Varcaturo and Lago Patria. In particular, Anas intervened, through the contracting companies, with numerous tankers - which operated continuously, even during this night - to remove the water accumulated on the road surface of the state road, coming in particular from the adjacent Via Ripuaria, under municipal jurisdiction. The water removal work and the consequent cleaning activities of the road surface, which took place until around 10.30 this morning, were however once again compromised by further heavy rainfall, which caused new flooding, again in relation to the overflow of water from the adjacent municipal roads. At present, in consideration of the extraordinary situation which also involves other local bodies and administrations, Anas is operating in coordination with the competent Prefecture and with the Fire Brigade, in order to guarantee the safety conditions essential for the reopening of the road section.
Flooded streets and houses on the coast south of Rome called for a state of calamity
The mayors of the municipalities of Anzio and Nettuno, on the coast south of Rome, will ask the Lazio Region to declare a state of disaster after yesterday morning's storm which, with roads like rivers, caused flooding, especially on the lower floors of many houses.
They also asked the regional Civil Protection for the support of men and means to deal with the emergency that has arisen in recent days. The mayors, Aurelio Lo Fazio and Nicola Burrini, announced it.
It should be considered that in the last 24 hours 80 millimeters of rain fell, more than a tenth of that which falls on the territory of the two Municipalities in a year and, therefore, this event is to be considered absolutely extraordinary.
"After receiving the orange alert, we proceeded to close the schools, as required by law, and activate the municipal operations centers which are the operational tool in such cases - the mayors said yesterday - The alert proved providential, in light of what then happened".
Both Lo Fazio and Burrini recalled that "all the available units are at work, we thank the staff and volunteers, the operations room of the regional civil protection and the prefecture with whom there has been and is a continuous comparison". Precisely thanks to this it was decided not to open the mixed operations center, considering that the operations room made it known that the weather situation was improving.
At the request of the Municipalities, the same guaranteed the sending of extraordinary teams and water pumps to clean the streets. He specified that "all measures were activated immediately" and that "the situation does not derive from non-compliance, shortage or lack of cleanliness but from the flood that hit Anzio and Nettuno". Both mayors have ordered checks in all schools to ensure that the institutions can reopen safely on Monday.
Water bomb in Reggino, 'cars reached the sea and walls fell'
Rain and thunderstorms spread throughout Calabria tonight with reports of particularly intense phenomena in Reggino, in the lower Ionian area. The most significant damage, at the moment, has been recorded in the municipality of Melito di Porto Salvo where during the night the bad weather caused roads invaded by mud and debris. Civil protection, firefighters and law enforcement are operational on site. "The town is on its knees. Tonight - mayor Tito Nastasi explains to ANSA - there was a water bomb. The cars reached the sea and there were fallen walls. We are without roads. I officially request a state of natural disaster for Melito. We still haven't counted the damage". At the moment no injuries have been reported. Debris was also found in several parts of State Road 106 where restoration operations are underway with traffic slowing down. The Civil Protection constantly monitors the evolution of the situation throughout the regional territory, without at the moment reports of particular critical issues or damage, predicting a decrease in the phenomena in the next few years, a recovery in the afternoon, and an improvement in the situation starting from the late evening. For today, an orange alert bulletin was issued for much of the region yesterday.
