The rain returns to Emilia-Romagna, already badly affected by bad weather in recent days and the emergency does not stop: there are still vast areas under water, landslides are bringing the Apennines to their knees and for today and tomorrow the red alert is confirmed.
Precipitation could cause river levels to rise again. The passage of river floods has enlarged the dense network of agricultural canals which continue to overflow as in a domino effect, so much so that the water has flooded a substantial part of the suburbs of Ravenna.
A helicopter crashed in Belricetto di Lugo, in the province of Ravenna, while it was engaged in an intervention for power line failures caused by bad weather. According to reports, the four people on board were injured, two seriously. From the position of the wreck on the ground, it was hypothesized a wrong landing, due to causes under investigation, with a violent impact from the front part. According to reports from the Prefecture of Ravenna, the helicopter is a private aircraft that flew low on behalf of Enel to control the power lines in Ca di Lugo.
There are 14 victims, over 15,000 the number of displaced persons. Assistance interventions for the population continue 24 hours a day and 8,000 citizens have already found hospitality in hotels and in the structures set up by the Municipalities in gyms, sports halls and schools.
THE LIVE BLOG
16.52 – In Lugo, one of the municipalities in the Ravenna area that was most affected by the flood – and where a group of young volunteers at the disposal of the city administration has gathered since this morning – the water has receded in various areas of the town and, in those where it is still present in significant quantities, the dewatering pumps of the Civil Protection groups have come into action.
16.02 – Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will already be in Emilia-Romagna tomorrow afternoon for an inspection of the areas affected by the flood. The prime minister will leave Japan in the evening, in advance of the work of the G7 which will also continue on Sunday, to land tomorrow in the early afternoon in Italy. The program is still being defined, also linked to weather conditions
15.53 – The number of people who had to leave their homes due to the floods in Emilia-Romagna rises to more than 36,600. The majority, 27,775, in the Ravenna area, then 4,830 in the province of Forlì-Cesena and 4,012 in the Bologna area. The Region reports it. There are 4,963 (of which 3,652 in the Ravenna area, 798 in the Bologna area, 509 in the Forlì-Cesena area and 4 in the Rimini area) the people welcomed in the hotel and in the structures set up by the Municipalities: schools, sports halls and gyms.
15.46 – The Municipality of Bologna, with an ordinance signed by the mayor, Matteo Lepore, has decided to extend until the end of the bad weather emergency the ban on accessing and staying in parks, gardens and green areas along the watercourses present in the municipal area and stationing under trees in all parks.
15.14 – The number of Municipalities affected by the damage caused by bad weather in Emilia-Romagna in the last few days is approaching one hundred, a number that has tripled compared to the 2012 earthquake. This was stated by the regional civil protection councilor of Emilia-Romagna. “The territory is bombed, seen from above it is impressive,” Priolo said at the press conference. “We are working with the department for the census of the municipalities to be included in the tax decree, it will be a careful mapping, realities that have objectively been damaged and need the entry into force of decrees”.
15.06 – Landslides and bad weather these days have caused billions of damages to the roads, especially those in the Apennines. This was explained by the vice president of Emilia-Romagna with responsibility for civil protection, Irene Priolo. In some realities “we will have to completely rebuild, completely change the morphology of the road network, entire slopes have fallen”. And landslides “aren’t standing still,” she explained.
Bad weather in Emilia Romagna, road of Passo del Carnaio destroyed
13.20 Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will hold a press conference at the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima around 11pm local time (4pm in Italy). The prime minister, engaged in Japan for the G7 meeting, has in fact decided to bring forward her return to Italy to closely monitor the bad weather emergency which has hit Emilia Romagna in particular.
12:54 As a precautionary measure, given the flooding of the Drittolo canal in Chiusa San Marco (Ravenna) communicated by the Reclamation Consortium, the Municipality of the Romagna city has ordered the total and immediate evacuation of the hamlet of Borgo Montone. For those who do not have places to shelter, the PalaCosta in Piazza Caduti sul Lavoro 13 has been set up as a reception point.
12. 45 Of the four injured in the helicopter that crashed in the morning in Belricetto, in the Ravenna area, two are serious while the other two suffered injuries considered to be minor. The Carabinieri of Lugo and the Fire Brigade intervened on the spot. As ordered by the prosecutor Angela Scorza, the divers are scouring the area in search of instruments on board the aircraft to reconstruct what happened.
12.35 – “Starting this morning, all bridges are passable, including the United Europe Bridge“. Lets know the mayor of Cesena, Enzo Lattuca. “The works to empty the Secante tunnel, as well as the underpass of viale Europa, continue. Therefore, the Secante tunnel is closed in both directions”, added the mayor. In relation to the E45, however, it should be noted “that the Borello Nord exit towards Rome has been reopened in both directions; Borello Sud, on the other hand, is closed towards Ravenna”.
12.34 The red alert in Bologna and Romagna remains active for tomorrow, Sunday 21 May: a weak instability persists which will lead to light rains scattered over the regional Apennines in the central hours of the day. Locally the phenomena could also assume the character of a brief shower. The risk of landslides remains strong.
12.08 The state road 3bis “Tiberina” (E45) between Sarsina Nord and Monte Castello, previously closed for the removal of unsafe trees following bad weather, has been reopened to traffic.
12.04 A helicopter crashed in Belricetto di Lugo, in the province of Ravenna, while it was engaged in an intervention for power line failures caused by bad weather. According to what is learned, the four people on board were injured: already extracted by the firefighters, they were taken away in an air ambulance. The aircraft would be a private vehicle of the company ‘EliOssola’. According to an initial reconstruction, the helicopter attempted an emergency landing.
11.33 Enea Emiliani, mayor of one of the Ravenna municipalities most affected by the flood, Sant’Agata sul Santerno, has launched an appeal for volunteers to leave the dangerous buildings immediately. “The firefighters – explained the mayor – informed me that they are receiving calls from volunteers who help families clean homes who report buildings with structural problems. Faced with this situation, the volunteers must leave immediately from these buildings to avoid dangerous situations. I ask everyone to follow the instructions of the fire brigade for their own safety. From today, civil protection will enter the country and will help families to clear out and clean the mud from all the houses”.
11.20 The President of the United States, Joe Biden, according to what is learned from Italian sources, expressed his condolences to the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, for the victims of the flood that hit Emilia Romagna. Biden, on the sidelines of the G7 work, approached Meloni, shook her hand and, embracing her, expressed words of support, solidarity and comfort.
9.14 “The news and images of the severe flooding in Northern Italy are heartbreaking. On behalf of Canadians, I send my deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones. We are thinking of all those affected and stand ready to provide support if needed. “. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Twitter.
9.10 In total, 27,775 people were evacuated as a precaution throughout the province of Ravenna. This is the latest figure provided by the Prefecture of Ravenna. In Ravenna alone, 22,000 were evacuated; then follow Faenza with 2,000 and Bagnacavallo with 1,250.
8.47 At present, the area of the evacuated Municipality of Ravenna is equal to 10,873 hectares, i.e. about 16% of the entire municipal territory, for a resident population of 14,220 people (equal to about 9% of the total). In the past four nights, the reception system put in place, explains the Municipality, recorded 1,200 overnight stays in 60 hotels; while as regards the civil protection hubs, almost 3,000 people have come and gone.
7.02 – The body found yesterday morning in via della Valle in Faenza, the sixth confirmed dead due to bad weather in the Ravenna area, the fourteenth in Emilia-Romagna, has been identified in Giordano Feletti, a 79-year-old local. The alarm was raised by some residents returning to their homes when the waters began to recede: the body was floating in the garden covered in mud.
7.27 – Shortly after 6.30 on the A14 Bologna-Taranto the stretch between Faenza and Forlì was reopened an hour and a half earlier than scheduled, making two lanes available to traffic in both directions. The closure yesterday evening had become necessary to allow the ASPI task force – already operating continuously on various fronts – to continue during the night and speed up the complex activity plan for the restoration of the damage caused by the floods, in order to allow as soon as possible possible time to return to normal traffic.
8.47 – At the moment the surface area of the Municipality of Evacuated Ravenna is equal to 10,873 hectares, ie about 16% of the entire municipal territory, for a resident population of 14,220 people (equal to about 9% of the total). In the past four nights, the reception system put in place, explains the Municipality, recorded 1,200 overnight stays in 60 hotels; while as regards the civil protection hubs, almost 3,000 people have come and gone.
ANSA agency
The weather alert continues, now the most exposed Tyrrhenian side (ANSA)
Hydraulic operations never tried before
We also try to run for cover with hydraulic operations never done before: a maneuver is underway to try to reverse the waters of the Cer, the Emilia-Romagna canal, or rather the main mast of the irrigation network, to bring them into the Po. TO Ravenna an earthen embankment was built to try and limit flooding.
Supply problem
There is now a problem in Bassa Romagna: in an area of about 100 square kilometers which is 80-90% flooded, about 100,000 people live and experience difficulties in obtaining food and water. Starting from Sant’Agata sul Santerno, perhaps the municipality most affected by the flood. But the Apennines are also in crisis: Casola Valsenio it is battered by landslides and cut off from the rest of the world. Same problem a Modigliana where the landslides that worry are countless. Or a Saracen market where geological instability has practically changed the geography of the country. There are around 300 landslides and 500 closed roadselectricity blackouts and interruptions to telephone lines remain, further complicating relief efforts.