Vita gazette – Red alert today in Emilia Romagna, hit by rain, floods, mud and landslides. Tomorrow the CDM dedicated to the emergency will be held. And the decree law for aid in the CDM.

The red alert is also for Emilia Romagna. The water slowly withdraws from Faenza, Forlì, Cesena, and the other places most heavily affected by bad weather. Still a critical situation, however, in Ravenna and its surroundings. There are 14 confirmed victims and thousands of displaced persons. Yesterday Prime Minister Meloni visited the areas affected by bad weather. Tomorrow the CDM dedicated to the emergency will be held. “Now our job is to ensure immediate responses,” he said. “It is difficult to estimate, but many resources will have to be mobilised,” he added. The president of the Region, Stefano Bonaccini, has asked for “100% refunds, as for the earthquake”.

Fao: Italy should invest in irrigation systems

“Even Italy, a G7 country, needs to invest more in irrigation systems to cope with droughts and floods”. This was stated by the director general of FAO, Qu Dongyu, commenting on the floods that hit Emilia-Romagna on the sidelines of the event organised by Coldiretti on World Biodiversity Day.

In E-R, 879 firefighters are at work.

In Emilia Romagna, 879 firefighters, of which 696 arrived as reinforcements from other Commands, are engaged in rescue operations following the flood caused by heavy rains. There are 244 firefighters at work in the province of Forlì, according to a note, and 326 in Ravenna, the areas where the most significant problems remain. In addition, there are 150 aquatic rescuers, 50 experts in drainage operations with pumps and dewatering pumps, and 16 Advanced Command Posts. Of the vehicles currently employed in the places affected by bad weather, 35 are small boats, three amphibians, one hovercraft, three helicopters and 12 drones. Four thousand nine hundred sixty-three interventions have been carried out: 1,148 in Bologna, 2,089 in Ravenna, 1,362 in Forlì Cesena, and 364 in Rimini.

The grip of bad weather on the province of Cuneo eases. The level of the rivers Po, Varaita,

Ellero and Pesio, after having passed the guard threshold yesterday, are back to normal. “The civil protection operations centre – reported Luca Robaldo, president of the Province – was closed yesterday evening. Now begins quantifying the damages”. Saluzzese and Monregalese were the most affected areas.

Forlì Prefecture: risk of emergence of war remnants

In light of the recent bad weather that has hit Emilia-Romagna, “the risk that the floods have transported or brought out war remnants that can be potentially dangerous if removed or tampered with or covered with other materials” emerges. The Prefecture of Forlì-Cesena reported this. In the event of discovering unexploded war remnants, explains a note from the same Prefecture, the invitation is to “notify the Police Headquarters or the Carabinieri immediately and get as far away as possible from the bomb”.

 Turin, the Po River overflows at the Murazzi, but the bad weather alert has returned.

In the last few hours, even Piedmont has had to face bad weather: the flow rate of the flood of the river Po that crossed Turin around midnight was one thousand cubic meters per second. As a result, the Murazzi have been flooded since Sunday afternoon, when the water invaded the entire quay. A situation also found at dawn today, Monday. However, this morning the river level returned below the danger level:

Chasm in Forlì, 12 apartments evacuated

The fire brigade teams are at work in Forlì for the precautionary evacuation of 12 apartments due to the opening of a chasm caused by bad weather. The intervention began at 3.45 and took place via Vittorio Locchi.

The landslides

The weather has improved over most of Italy in the last few hours, including in Emilia Romagna, where the red alert remains. Landslides are especially worrying. The following two days were dry and sunny, but it still rains in Emilia Romagna from Wednesday evening to Thursday. The weather will be calm, dry and bright for a few days, even with temperatures reaching 27 or 28 degrees. Further deterioration with new rainfall at the river level should be manageable since it shouldn’t be of solid intensity but could increase the risk of landslides. And that is why the alert remains. There are over 300 landslides, and the situation is complicated and complex. Landslides keep moving; they are unstable even when the sun returns. So mainly in Emilia Romagna, it is a hydrogeological alert.

The museums and libraries in Cesena reopen.

After the suspension of services due to the lousy weather emergency and the consequent flooding of the Savio River and minor waterways, all libraries, museum and municipal art galleries reopen from today in Cesena, with the sole exception of the points reading distributed in the neighbourhoods, the restart of which is scheduled for Monday 29 May. All spaces and services will restart at the usual times, respecting the calendar of traditionally proposed activities. Also, today, the Malatestiana Library reopens concerning the Antica – Aula del Nuti and Sala Piana – and to all Moderna and the Ragazzi services.

What is the amount of flood damage?

According to an initial estimate, the total calculation of the damage caused by the flood in Emilia Romagna would be between 4 and 5 billion euros. However, the figure could increase to reach 10-15 billion. But, unfortunately, we can’t know now!

The emergency primarily concerns the houses, which, once freed from the mud, will be subject to the necessary checks to understand which buildings have resisted which must be demolished and repaired. But the great concern is also caused by the environmental damage caused by landslides, those to the roads, which in many cases will have to be completely redesigned, and those to agriculture: between 10 and 15 million trees would have to be uprooted since they are definitively compromised.