Stefano Bonaccini, governor of Emilia-Romagna: could it have been avoided?
«Since Monday we have been aware of the exceptional extent of this wave of bad weather, which – let us not forget – hit the same territories already severely hit in early May. We had issued the red alert and the mayors had closed the schools and asked everyone to limit unnecessary travel, choosing, where possible, to work remotely. Indications that people have followed, demonstrating civic sense and responsibility. Unfortunately, what then happened was an event that has no historical precedent: in 36 hours the same rain fell in six months. Professor Cacciamani, director of Italy Weatherhighlighted that a fact of this size at these latitudes is unprecedented”.
Almost 9 billion of the funds for instability in 2018 were not spent…
“I don’t judge the work of others. One thing, however, is certain – and this is not the case in Emilia-Romagna – in Italy we spend to repair the damage afterwards and not to make the territory safe first. We need a national plan adapted to the drastic climate change ».
Conte abolished safe Italy…
«This is not the time for controversy, in these hours we are committed to securing people and assisting the 15,000 citizens forced to leave their homes. We have more than 40 flooded municipalities, 23 flooded rivers, 280 devastating landslides, 500 totally or partially closed roads, economic sectors on their knees, jobs and businesses at risk. The only irreparable thing are the 14 victims who are registered at the moment: terrible ».
How is the government doing?
«So far we have found maximum availability, immediately there was full collaboration. In addition to emergency management, in which all the State bodies and many operators and volunteers are involved, whom I thank one by one, we are working with the competent ministers to prepare the necessary measures: from refreshments and support for families and businesses, to shock absorbers social security for male and female workers, the suspension of mortgages and tax deadlines. And the conditions to start again: as soon as the last drop of rain falls, we will start the damage assessment and the reconstruction. Together with the social partners of Emilia-Romagna we have developed a document with the measures that are needed and together with the mayors we will define a platform that we will already illustrate to President Meloni on Tuesday, whom I thank for her closeness. Emilia-Romagna is wounded but will get back up. And we will do it together, leaving no one behind.
You have been accused of having cemented the territory.
«Look, I really don’t have a single minute to chase after authentic hoaxes that we have already denied, such as the one about the 55 million that we would not have used: whoever proposes it again will assume responsibility for it in the due places. As for overbuilding, on the other hand, it is a real problem, which in Emilia-Romagna we were the first to tackle by approving a zero-balance regional law on land consumption five years ago: we have already halted new urban planning for over 11,000 hectares of soil, with the expectation of deplanning as many. It is an unprecedented slimming cure. From now to the next few years, the priority will be the regeneration and recovery of the existing buildings, no new buildings or new neighborhoods. However, more is needed: in addition to stopping the concrete, a national plan is needed that adapts structures and infrastructures to extreme events”.
You received 190 million to build 23 expansion tanks but only 12 are working when fully operational.
«In the last three years we have financed 4,557 soil protection interventions for more than one billion euros: 72% have been completed. As for the expansion tanks, 14 are functional, the other nine are either in planning or in execution, or still in a tender. They are certainly not forgotten in a drawer. Also considered the procedure envisaged for each one: planning, precisely, environmental impact assessment, authorization from the Dams office and implementation”.
Concretely, what are the first things to do?
«There are immediate priorities: securing the hills and mountains, the water network, restoring infrastructure and roads, isolated communities to recover, restoring services. But what happened did not appear in any historical series or even in the worst-case scenarios. We therefore need new maps, new models, new tools. Here, at the Bologna Technopole, we are making them. In Emilia-Romagna we have decided to invest in the future. However, we must do it as a country ».