Fourteen victims of the latest wave of bad weather that swept over Emilia-Romagna. Together with the deaths recorded during the floods at the beginning of May, they are remembered with a day of national mourning. A minute of silence was observed in various institutional settings, mainly at the regional office in viale Aldo Moro in Bologna: “We will not give up: even in the face of all this devastation, Emilia-Romagna will react. And it will rise up”, said the president of the Assembly Emma Petitti who recalled: “Today is a day of national mourning. Not only Emilia-Romagna, but the whole country gathers in memory of the people who lost their lives due to the terrible floods of the last days. .lives broken by the fury of the water and the mud that ripped away the affection of their relatives, people who tried to protect their memory, who hugged each other to resist the rush of a swollen river, who were buried by the collapse of their houses or by a collapse, that they were simply trying to save themselves.
For Emma Petitti “in an area plagued by the destruction of public and private things, in which rescuers and volunteers work tirelessly and tirelessly with a spirit of community, this immense tragedy has erased stories, memories, affections, entire lives, destroying our community, inflicting deep pain on us for the loss of our fellow citizens.”
Who are the victims of the flood?
Two victims in the Bologna area: Enrique Rivola, found dead in the collapse of the house in Fontanelice, after the landslide caused by the first wave of bad weather, in early May (during the first floods, two people also lost their lives in Romagna, ndr). He was 78 years old and overwhelmed by rubble. The 43 year old man adjacent to his house in Idice, because he was busy with a pump to empty his flooded garage of water.
In it ceasePalma Maraldi and her husband Sauro Manuzzi, aged 60 and 69, owners of a farm, died. Sauro was found a short distance from her house. Palma was dragged twenty kilometers. Her body was found on the beach of Zadina, on the coast of Cesenatico. They died trying to save the beloved donkey from her.
Riccardo Soldati, 77, was buried under a landslide while he was with his wife in the garden of their house in Casale di Calisese, between Cesena and Montiano. Another man died in his house, he got sick.
In the Forlì area, Vittorio Tozzi, 75, died overwhelmed by mud in the basement of the house where he had gone down to save his rabbits.
Franco Prati, 64, and his wife Adriana Mazzoli, 53, were unable to leave their home on time.
Delio Foschini and Dorotea Dalle Fabbriche, aged 71 and 73, had no escape in Russi, after their house was invaded by water.
In the Ravenna area, the last victim was found yesterday, May 23, a week after the second wave of bad weather. The body would have been identified by underwater rescuers. This is Fiorenzo Sangiorgi, a 68-year-old from Fusignano whose disappearance was reported on Wednesday, May 17. Witnesses had reported seeing the 68-year-old man get out of a van and then be swept away by water, which rose to touch the roof of the vehicle.
Giovanni Pavani, 75, from Castel Bolognese, was overwhelmed by the flooding of the Senio.
Giordano Feletti, 79, was found dead in the courtyard of his house in via della Valle in Faenza.
In Sant’Agata sul Santerno, Giovanni Sella, 89, bedridden, died at home. The firefighters managed to save his wife who had tried to take him to the first floor. Another woman, from the same municipality, was found dead at her home.
The balance of the catastrophe (data updated to May 24)
To date, 7,000 million euros in damage are estimated, almost 40,000 displaced, 23 rivers overflowing, more than 280 landslides, 120 of special importance, more than 100 municipalities affected, almost 5,000 civil protection personnel committed day and night in the assistance to the population. Activities never attempted before, such as “inverting” the waters of the Cer, the Emilia-Romagna canal, to bring them to the Po and save the city of Ravenna from flooding. Due to floods and landslides, 544 municipal and provincial roads are completely closed. Some sections of the railway lines connecting Romagna with Bologna are also temporarily closed.
These are the numbers of the second wave of the flood that hit Emilia-Romagna this May, “a new earthquake” as defined by the president of the Region Stefano Bonaccini when comparing the damage caused by the water with that of the earthquake that, Just in May 2012, he struck Emilia’s heart between Reggio, Modena, Bologna and Ferrara. This time the epicenter was Romagna, but the damage was seen as far as Bologna and in Bassa Ferrarese, they touched Modena whose bridges held, but where fear was great.
