There are currently 10 victims of the flood that hit the Marche and they have all been identified. This was announced by the prefecture of Ancona by updating the previous data and underlining that there are still 3 people missing. “The rescue coordination center – continues the prefecture – continues to be constantly summoned to the unified operations room of the Marche region in connection and with the coordination of the Civil Protection”.
The Cabinet has approved the state of emergency for the Marche Region, approving an initial loan of 5 million.
“It’s a disaster. We’ll do everything we can.” This was stated by the prime minister, Mario Draghi, on a visit to Pianello di Ostra, in the province of Ancona, after the wave of bad weather that hit the Marche. “We will do everything necessary – he continued -. We embrace you all, we are close to you and you can count on us”. “Of course there is a hydrogeological problem,” said Draghi. “What happened today shows how the fight against climate change is fundamental”, said the premier, meeting with journalists.
“There were moments of terrorwith truly extraordinary quantities of water “. Thus the head of the Civil Protection Fabrizio Curcio after the meeting in the prefecture in Ancona which was also attended by the leaders of the fire brigade, the head of department Laura Lega and the head of the body Giorgio Parisi.”It rained a third in a few hours than what it normally rains in these areas in a year – he adds – and in some areas it rained twice as much as it rains in summer. It was a quantity of water that suddenly spilled over the territories, causing havoc and death “.
150 people are displaced, announces the Prefecture of Ancona in a note, explaining that “most of these people are in the municipality of Senigallia, but the number is growing”. “In this regard – the press release reads – dedicated prevention and control services have been set up by the police on the evacuated buildings”. Other possible evacuations are also under consideration.
At least 180 firefighters at work in the area of the storm that hit the region: dozens of people who took refuge on the roofs of houses and trees were rescued during the night, explains the fire brigade. More than one hundred and fifty interventions that have been carried out.
There are 3 missing in Barbara, one of the municipalities most affected by the flood last night in the Marche region. According to what was reconstructed by the mayor Riccardo Pasqualini, the son of the pharmacist Silvia Mereu, Mattia, about 8 years old, is missing; 17 year old Noemi Bartolucci and her mother Brunella Chiu, 56 years old. The other son of the woman, Simone, was saved by attaching himself to a branch of a large plant. Mayor Barbara Riccaro Pasqualini arrived in the bridge area near which the three disappeared were overwhelmed. ‘It was like the collapse of a dam – says the mayor who arrived in the area of the bridge near which the three missing people were overwhelmed – the world came down in an instant. A terrifying thud and then the wave. It was not a flood but a tsunami ‘. The owner of the nearby mill, the mayor said, looked out the window and saw 1.5 meters of water. Responsibilities? “We are trying to resolve the situation, this is not the time – he concludes – we will see later”.
Meanwhile, messages of solidarity arrive from all over Italy. “I got calls from the head of state, Sergio Mattarella and the Prime Minister Mario Draghi“, reports the president of the Marche Region Francesco Acquaroli.
“Our thoughts are turned with anguish to our fellow citizens of the Marche, affected by yesterday’s mournful event”, said the head of state. Sergio Mattarella.
In addition to the casualties, there is currently incalculable damage. The river Misa, in flood due to the violent rains of this night, also broke the stone balustrades of the Garibaldi bridge in the historic center of Senigallia. In the heart of the town of the Marche, the damage caused by debris, branches and mud, dragged by the stream, is visible. Many citizens are working to empty flooded cellars and shops. Witnesses report that they have never seen “such a thing”.
Bad weather in the Marche, in Senigallia the elderly saved with rafting boats
Meanwhile, the controversy over the lack of alarm is mounting. “The bulletins are published, there is a warning theme. It is quite evident that the event, as it took place, was much much worse than what had been expected”, explained the head of the Civil Protection. Fabrizio Curcio, responding to those who asked him if a weather alert had been given. “Now we have to focus on things to do now – he added – The theme of the alert will need to be explored but it is a fact that the event was much greater than what was originally planned”.
The solidarity of the neighboring regions arrives for help: from Tuscany to Lazio, from Trentino to Veneto, from Lombardy to Umbria, the mobilization of volunteers is ready should it become necessary. Pending official information, there are also the names of the four victims in Pianello di Ostra, thanks to communications from family and friends: they are Andrea Tisba, 25 years old, and the father Josephaged 60, the 52-year-old Diego Chiappetti and the eighty-year-old Ferdinando Olivi. Meanwhile, as for the floods of the past, first of all that of Florence in 1966, even in the Marche there are the “mud angels”. They have the faces of neighbors, friends and relatives who have taken action since this morning to help clear streets and houses of debris. There are those who went to the rescue of a friend, on the outskirts of Ostra, even by bike, so as not to be blocked by the road bans decided by the police. Adults and young people have been shoveling mud for hours and removing branches and other debris that have engulfed homes, shops and warehouses.
Source: Ansa
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