The earthquake that hit central Italy last night, destroying entire towns and killing dozens of people, also caused serious problems in terms of transport and energy supplies. Let's see what is the situation of roads, railways, airports and the electricity grid.
STREETS
Let's start with the traffic. The Traffic Police engaged in reconnaissance of the main roads connecting with the municipalities affected by the earthquake informs on the situation of the road network at 10:00:
On the A25 at km 145 (Popoli) raised asphalt. On site practicable road.
On the SS4 :
– Salaria from km 135+700 to km 141+200 lane narrowing between Amatrice and Accumoli.
– At km 141+300 Pescara del Tronto unusable bridge.
– Debris at km 135+700.
– At km 135+700 viaduct of the roadman raised by 10 cm.
– At km 138+300 140 141+250 step on the viaduct.
– At km 134+700 the tunnel vault and sides partially collapse. Road still passable.
On the SS 685 Tre Valli Umbre:
– between S. Anatolia di Narco and Cerreto di Spoleto tunnel closed due to vault collapse from km 32 to km 39.
– Serravalle Cerreto di Spoleto closed from the Marches towards Umbria from km 0 to km 7 km 5+800 Arquata del Tronto viaduct.
SS 477 blocked for about 4/5 kilometers after Norcia towards Castelluccio.
The SR260 from L'Aquila towards Amatrice is passable up to km 41 between Configno and Amatrice, after which it is blocked.
The Traffic Police invites citizens not to use the connecting roads except for truly important reasons so as to facilitate the passage of emergency vehicles.
The Civil Protection, on the other hand, asks that the Via Salaria be left free to allow for relief efforts.
COTRAL COACHES
The coaches of the Cotral lines which refer to the Amatrice depot, one of the towns most affected by the earthquake, are currently at a standstill as they cannot transit on the main road of the town devastated by the earthquakes. The service on the same lines is in any case carried out from the Rieti depot.
TRAINS: REGULAR RAILWAY CIRCULATION
The State Railways announced that at 7.15 am all the regional railway lines that had been interrupted for checks by Rfi technicians following the earthquake shocks were reactivated. On the high-speed line, on the other hand, traffic has always been regular.
AIRPORTS, NO DAMAGE
The National Civil Aviation Authority communicated instead that the airport structures of the Regions affected by last night's earthquake have not reported any damage and are all operational. ENAC also participates in the table called by the Civil Protection for the management of operations.
ELECTRICITY: 6 USERS WITHOUT LIGHT, ENEL AT WORK
As for electricity, E-distribuzione, the Enel group company that manages the grid, has deployed a task force of over 150 people to restore the seriously damaged plants in the areas most affected by the earthquake. Other teams of technicians are converging from neighboring territories.
At the moment, around six thousand users are without power, in particular in the municipalities of Accumoli, Leonessa and Amatrice in Lazio. Restoration works are also underway in Pescara del Tronto in the Marche region and Norcia and Cascia in Umbria. There are no problems with the electricity grid in Abruzzo.
Occasional power outages will be possible in other areas depending on the requests for disconnection to allow rescues in safety by other operators. To reduce service recovery times, generator sets were also mobilised.
Enel immediately ordered checks and inspections on all the hydroelectric plants present in the regions affected by the seismic swarm, which however are not damaged.
TIM: NO DAMAGE TO THE TELEPHONE NETWORK
Finally, with regard to the telephone network, Tim announces that it has ordered controls and checks on all its network systems present in the regions of central Italy hit by the earthquake, which are not damaged, and that it has undertaken a series of actions to ensure the functioning of landline, mobile and internet communications, in support of rescue activities coordinated by the Civil Protection.
The company has already sent several emergency vehicles with generators on board to the municipalities involved to power the main power plants and radio base stations, due to the lack of electricity.
A task force of technicians is on site to deal with emergencies and facilitate relief, also thanks to the support of satellite phones to remedy possible network congestion due to the high telephone and data traffic that is being recorded in these hours in the affected areas .
Tim also informs that, in support of the resident population in the municipalities involved, it will suspend the billing deadline and block credit management actions.
