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| Image: Wikipedia Italia |
Today I am sorry to bring you news of an event which is being largely ignored by the mainstream media, even, inexplicably, in Italy: Yesterday morning torrential rain hit the Aeolian Islands and in particular, the Island of Lipari, where latest estimates put the damage wreaked in just two hours at €30 million.
September is the rainy season in the islands and they had already seen far more rain than is usual during this period. In addition, on Lipari many water courses had, in the past decade, been filled in and turned into streets so when the rivers overflowed there was nowhere for the water to go except into buildings of all kinds. And not only water - as cliffs crumbled, kilograms of pumice flowed into the streets of the Calandra district of Canneto whilst at Annunziata, discarded household and other items that had been thrown along the coastline over a period of thirty years also literally poured into the streets.
The pupils of one middle school [Saturday is a school day in Italy] were evacuated from the ground to the first floor and Marco Giorgianni, the Mayor of Lipari has ordered all schools on the island to be closed on Monday as a safety precaution.
La Repubblica's Palermo edition reports that a load-bearing wall of Lipari Castle has been damaged and that, should it fall, there could be an even worse disaster as many families have their homes directly below it. There are also ancient tombs and other archaeological remains inside the castle's boundaries.
The Mayor has praised Civil Protection teams, police, firefighters, forest protection officials and others who rushed to the scenes of devastation to help. He has also asked Premier Monti to declare a state of emergency on the island.
So far, mercifully, no loss of life has been reported and Blog Sicilia reports that many of the island's elderly residents attribute this to the protection of the island's patron saint, San Bartolomeo.
You can see a video of some of the damage here.
14 comments:
How sad.
Thanks for sharing. I had heard something about it on Facebook and searched the news, but of course could find nothing. Do you know about damage on other islands? We stayed on Salina in 2006 and have a fondness for the islands and people there
Adding to another week of absolute chaos all over the planet
This was on the news in Australia
Lipari is really in the wars. It must be inconvenient having TWO active volcanoes as neighbours... don't they ever get caught up in giant ash clouds too?
Flooding is the pits. I used to know somebody whose loft water tank gave way flooding the entire house. It takes literally months to dry out...
I saw a thing on TV where they showed a floodproof house with plastic skirting boards etc. Such a simple solution. Also they have houses in Holland that literally float in a flood, on great rafts that are tethered to the garden so your home can't get washed out to sea!
Hi, Anne. Yes, indeed. Hi, Laura. As far as I know there was no devastation on Salina but work is being done there to make sure the rivers are safe. Hi, "Nothing Here". Yes, a bad week. Hi, Susanna. Thanks for that - it is good to know it is being covered there. Hi,Gleds. I think they do. Yes, I remember bad flooding in Cardiff before they put up the enormous barriers. A lot of people lost everything. Interesting about Holland.
The media are too interested in the bare bosoms of Kate to concern themselves with the major issues that are going on in this world!
Hi, Lee. I agree.
We are shocked and disappointed that we have not heard of this in Catania. It should really garner more attention...definitely more than Kate's topless pics.
Hello, Hawkins family. I know - all this Kater fuss is quite ridiculous.
''Yes, I remember bad flooding in Cardiff before they put up the enormous barriers.'''
Yes I do to. In fact. I recall leaving my house and walking up the road toward Sophia Gardens, and as I approached I recall a very large stream of water from the Taff flowing toward me...
Not a good time I recall trying to help the elderly neighbours save something...
Hi again, "Nothing here". I was living in Westgate St at the time so I remember it very well. Some students of mine lost everything.
Yes. As was so unexpected and no warning, it was all too late to really save much.
Lee said ; ''The media are too interested in the bare bosoms of Kate ''
Thats a understatement as they concern themselves with distraction and Propaganda the majority of the time.
Hi again, NH. Yes, it was a very sad time. And yes, you would think the media would have more important matters to report.
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