Bad weather hits Italy in the first weekend of October and in the North it is a real disaster. The budget, in the early hours of the afternoon, counts two victims – a young man reported missing and then found in Piedmont in Borgosesia and a fireman in Valle d'Aosta – and 22 missing. Collapse of a building in Limone in Piedmont, collapse of a bridge – reopened and inaugurated shortly before complete with live Facebook – on the Sesia, torrential rains and real floods, flooded rivers, landslides, drinking water difficult to find in the Biella area, red alert in Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria: the interventions in support of the affected populations are countless while red and orange alerts alternate almost everywhere. The missing, according to the latest data from the prefecture, are concentrated in the areas of Cuneo, Vercelli and Biella.
Now the level of the Po in Piedmont is worrying: the level has risen by 3 meters in the last 24 hours.
In Venice it was raised for the first time the Mose barrier to prevent high water from invading the city and the balance is positive: the tide has dropped and Piazza San Marco remained dry.
PIEDMONT
The situation in Piedmont remains critical due to the record rainfall of the last few hours. A man is missing between Italy and France, where the province of Cuneo borders the Val Roja. Serious damage caused to Limone Piemonte (Cuneo) by the flooding of the Vermegnano stream. The tourist resort is isolated following the closure of the state road from Vernante. In Garessio and Ceva it is flooded the Tanaro, which in Ormea beat the values of the floods of 1994 and 2016, before returning below the danger levels.
Flood in Borgosesia, in the Vercelli area, where the Sesia's record-breaking flood wave, which reached 8,54 metres, caused widespread flooding. All bridges closed since yesterday evening, parked cars went under water in various parts of the town. Flooded houses too.
Flooding in Mergozzo, in Verbano Cusio Ossola, in Candoglia where, according to ARPA data, more than 214 mm of rain fell in the last 12 hours. Inconvenience too in the Biella area, where there are landslides and blackouts. It is no longer raining in Turin, where the levels of the Po have grown during the night, however with values below the thresholds, while more substantial increases are recorded for the Dora Baltea.
Stay thereorange alert, confirmed by ARPA, the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection, which provides for a progressive attenuation of the phenomena only from late morning, with residual rains on Verbano.
VAL D'AOSTA
A volunteer firefighter from Arnad died due to bad weather. According to what Ansa has learned, a plant collapsed on him during a rescue operation in the town in the lower Valle d'Aosta. Throughout the region - orange hydrogeological alert - problems related to intense rainfall are reported: the Gaby bridge collapsed on the regional road of the Lys valley.
LIGURIA
The Roya river has broken its banks and overflowed in Ventimiglia, enclosing several roads. A bus got stuck in via Cavour with water up to the windows. There was a lot of damage to flooded premises: an event that is not remembered in living memory. The overflowing was caused by the copious rains that fell during the day in Val Roya, battered by bad weather especially on the French side, where the collapse of the road in the Vievola area, on the RD6204 (this is how state road 20 takes its name, when it crosses the French stretch); a landslide near Saint Dalmas de Tende, which led to the closure of the road for safety reasons and, according to what we learn in the evening, a bridge has also collapsed near Tende. Critical situation also in the Arroscia valley, on the border with Piedmont. In the evening the search for some migrants was also triggered, who were thought to be camped in the loopholes of the railway bridge, but in the end it turned out to be a false alarm. The firefighters and the police looked for them.
The storm surges that hit Tigullio were particularly strong, with Levante and Ponente still classified on orange alert. The area most affected by the rains was western Liguria, in particular Ventimiglia where the Roja flooded in several points, the Bevera torrent in full flood dragged some cars and in the hinterland there were landslides, mudslides and blocked roads. Among these also those that lead to Triora and Molini di Triora, which have remained isolated. Fortunately no one is injured or missing and the Prefecture of Imperia has also denied the news of some migrants being dragged into the Roja. In Tigullio a strong storm caused flooding between Rapallo, Santa Margherita and Portofino but also in this case without injuries.
VENEZIA
With the application of the Ordinance of the Harbor Master's Office, which initiates the ban on navigation and the entry of boats, Operation MOSE has started for Venice'. The Superintendent of Public Works Cinzia Zincone coordinated the operation. "Here we are - she said on Saturday morning - I will go there (at the harbor mouth) around 9 to closely follow what is happening". "Although it is a functional test, the most valuable for acquiring the data needed to set up the system - adds Zincone - it is clear that this event represents an important day for the city, which in any case will find itself free from water high thanks to Moses for the first time”. "We are sorry that other parts of Italy are plagued by bad weather, let us console ourselves with Venice, given that the tide in the sea stopped at 129 centimeters and in the city at 73", therefore less than a metre, commented Cinzia Zincone in the afternoon. "The test went well - she adds - we are collecting all the data, more than expected, for the development of the system".
Updated at 19:01 on Saturday, October 3, 2020
