They are called clay angels because instead of wings they have shovels and rubber boots: there are hundreds of them and they are the ones who left Bologna, San Lazzaro and the neighboring Municipalities, yesterday and Friday, to go and lend a hand in the most affected countries. Because of the bad weather. Indeed, in many areas, including Botteghino di Zocca, in Pianoro, and Farneto, in San Lazzaro, the water has left room for piles of mud and rubble, rotting furniture to painstakingly pull houses from, and much to rebuild.
The road that led to Farneto, yesterday morning, was invaded by hundreds of parked cars on both sides of the road. There were those who put on the rubber boots, those who were already on the scene along with the vacuum trucks and the Local Police to help. There are many stories of those who have come to lend a hand: there are girls like Giulia, Lucia and Chiara who, as soon as they had the day off, showed up ready to do whatever was necessary, without fear. There are citizens who come from home with pressure washers or electrical appliances. There are councilors from San Lazzaro who shovel mud, and then many volunteers from the Fraternity of San Lazzaro. Mario, Andrea, Matteo, Kamil, Mattia, Aziz, Musa and Maurizio are three days that never stop, day and night. “Citizens feel better when they see us – explains Mario Ruggirello, director of operations of the NGO La Fraternità – and they are very kind to offer us coffee, water and some sandwiches”.
“On Thursday between Idice and Ozzano Emilia there was a lot of traffic due to falling trees. While we waited for the Municipal Police to arrive, we hit the road with our own vehicles and tried to keep the traffic moving as best as possible”, continues Ruggirello, leader these days of two teams of men. In total 8 operators, 5 vehicles including two “spiders” for rubble and it is decided by boots and waxed. “Many volunteers have gone to work for free to help citizens empty the mud from their houses,” says the mayoress of San Lazzaro, Isabella Conti. I want to tell the citizens to send the bills and the expenses they are incurring to the mud and restoration municipality: we will act as collector of these expenses, we will work to obtain the reimbursements.”
A little further on, at the Zocca ticket office, in the Val di Zena valley, yesterday morning there was a constant coming and going of young people who went from house to house, from cellar to cellar, from shed to shed to clean everything. the mud and sand that Zena had spat out flooded days ago. Among them, always with a smile on their faces, as if they didn’t feel any fatigue, the Fossa dei Leoni della Fortitudo: forty of them traveled from Bologna to help. Here, the Lazzarini family of the Al Botteghino restaurant, which brings water and a crescent, takes it upon themselves to think of a break for these daring young people.
Zoe Pederzini
