‘Restart from zero’: Italian region wrecked by floods fights for new life

‘Restart from zero’: Italian region wrecked by floods fights for new life

Residents and farmers in Emilia-Romagna call for swift government aid as they struggle to rebuild their lives and businesses

By Giada Zampano

RAVENNA/FORLI, Italy (AA) – Life in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, severely battered in mid-May by the worst floods in almost 100 years, is limping back to normalcy.

Residents are still shaken, trying their best to come to terms with the catastrophic damage that could affect their lives and businesses for years.

Exceptional floods killed at least 15 people in the northeastern Italian region, as torrential rain pushed more than 20 rivers out of their banks, sending water cascading through towns with intense ferocity and submerging thousands of acres of fertile farmland.

The amount of water that fell – about 50 centimeters (nearly 20 inches) in 15 days – was more than half the average annual rainfall in the region.

Environmental experts dubbed it “an extraordinary event,” blaming the effects of climate change on a land already debilitated by years of searing drought.

Some residents, however, believe that better maintenance could have prevented the collapse of small bridges and river banks, which let water ravage fields and invade houses with mounds of mud and debris.

The extreme natural event hit 42% of the region’s cultivable land, a massive tragedy for local agriculture, which faces immediate damages of up to €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) this year, but is still assessing the possible consequences on future production.

Italy’s farmers’ association, Coldiretti, estimates that almost 400 million kilograms (over 440,000 tons) of wheat have already been lost, warning that stagnant floodwater could compromise the region’s rich fruit harvests – key for Italian exports – for four to five years.


- ‘Dramatic’ consequences

Riccardo Ballardini owns a 42-hectare (103-acre) farm in Bagnacavallo, a town in Ravenna province, and produces mostly pears and grapes.

The area was almost completely submerged after a small river just a few hundred meters away from his farm broke its banks twice in less than two weeks.

Now the roots of his crops are covered by at least 30 centimeters (around 12 inches) of solid mud.

“Machinery, streets, plants, everything has been covered and now we are trying to understand how big the damage is going to be,” Ballardini, 33, told Anadolu.

“Water also broke into our house, reaching about 1.5 meters (around 5 feet) in height, destroying furniture, memories, and a whole life.”

Ballardini wants the government to provide immediate financial aid to give him some relief and enough time – at least two years – to return to productivity.

The main issues in the region include uprooted and collapsed soil after more than 250 landslides; devastation of vineyards and orchards covered by mud; flooded farms; irreversible damage to roads and infrastructure; breakdown of irrigation systems; and the long-term hydrogeological harm.

“It’s a dramatic scenario,” said Alessio Mammi, Emilia-Romagna’s regional councilor for agriculture.

“We need adequate resources to refund the agri-food businesses for the damage they suffered, but also to guarantee quick procedures to deliver immediate liquidity to firms.”

When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited the worst-hit areas in late May, she promised that Italy will be able to access EU funds to finance part of the reconstruction efforts.

Italy can also invoke the use of EU resources for agriculture, while cash from the Cohesion Fund and Recovery Fund will also be available for investments geared toward prevention.

The Italian government headed by Premier Giorgia Meloni has already earmarked €2 billion in emergency funds: roughly €200 million to compensate farmers for their losses and help them replace damaged machinery, with another €300 million for export-led companies.


- Hard path to recovery

However, as residents try to recover their basic necessities and clean up their flooded homes, there is skepticism about the timing and the effectiveness of the state and EU aid.

“Luckily our historic centers were not damaged, but some areas are still on their knees,” said Gionata Squarcia, who owns a bar in the center of Forli, one of the worst-hit areas along with Ravenna and Cesena.

“The reaction by people here was exceptional. When you see 2,000 young volunteers arriving with shovels, ready to remove mud, you know you need to do your part too.”

Squarcia, 51, cooked more than 700 meals a day to help rescuers and firefighters feed some of the displaced people – about 30,000 throughout Emilia-Romagna.

“I don’t need politicians to come here with their rain boots,” he said.

“I want them to raise their voice in Europe and get the money needed to help rebuild our streets, which are collapsing.”

In Conselice, a small town near Ravenna that has become one of the symbols of the disaster, most of the displaced residents were allowed to return to their homes, as firefighters helped by hundreds of volunteers kept draining the heavy mixture of mud and water.

“I came back yesterday. Now we’re trying to clean up what remains of the house,” said Ruslana Boychuk, 52, who hails from Ukraine but has been living in Italy for 22 years.

She burst into tears while removing debris around her daughter’s damaged piano, which lies alone in the middle of an empty room.

Most of the furniture is strewn in front of the two-story house, with a few everyday objects left inside.

“My kid is 15 years old and she dreamed of studying music at the local conservatory. But now what? Now we’ll have to restart from zero,” said Boychuk.


Kaynak:Source of News

This news has been read 97 times in total

ADD A COMMENT to TO THE NEWS
UYARI: Küfür, hakaret, rencide edici cümleler veya imalar, inançlara saldırı içeren, imla kuralları ile yazılmamış,
Türkçe karakter kullanılmayan ve büyük harflerle yazılmış yorumlar onaylanmamaktadır.
Previous and Next News