Genoa – After a winter with more than unusual spring temperatures, Italy is once again having to deal with bad weather. Several landslides have hit Liguria, under water for hours now, while in Veneto there is growing anxiety for the night, when the weather situation is destined to worsen. The Civil Protection has issued a red alert, while the municipality of Vicenza has ordered the closure of all schools for tomorrow. “These are complex hours”, says governor Luca Zaia who is following the evolution of the situation.
Critical situation in Liguria
The first region to have felt the blow of the return of winter is Liguria. Last night a landslide literally cut Pieve Ligure in two, narrowly avoided by a minibus and a car: a thousand inhabitants isolated, schools closed, some displaced people and the hope that the road, at least one-way, can be reopened. After yesterday's landslide which destroyed the wall of the steps of the Conteburnio D'Albertis institute in Genoa San Fruttuoso, and the one which invaded the A10 between Celle and Varazze in the direction of Genoa (the section now reopened), another landslide along the road provincial road in Davagna caused a gas pipe to break, forcing the metropolitan city to temporarily close to traffic. Safety works are underway. But there are many ground subsidence caused by rain: especially in the municipalities of La Spezia (Campiglia), Carasco (S. Pietro di Sturla), Genova Mele and Santo Stefano di Magra (via Cisa Nord). The Turchino state road near Gnocchetto is still closed and is invaded by boulders.
On the other hand, the cumulative numbers speak clearly: in the last 24 hours 118.4 mm fell in Carpe – Case Garone (Municipality of Toirano); 112 mm at Mele; 81 mm in Borzone (Municipality of Borzonasca).
Severe disruption in Tuscany
At the moment the rainfall is affecting all of Liguria, with widespread and persistent rain. The bad weather today did not spare even Tuscany, which was on orange alert until midnight: cumulative temperatures exceeded 130 millimeters in Fabbriche di Vergemoli and 121 in Equi Terme. Flooding in Livorno. High levels in all basins in the areas subject to alert, in particular in the central-northern and coastal areas. The rain caused multiple landslides in the province of Lucca. In Versilia, in the municipality of Massarosa, a landslide involved a car: the two people on board, the firefighters explain, were stuck inside but were not injured. The landslide completely blocked the road: traffic was restored around 5am. Due to another landslide, in Galligano, in Garfagnana, three families were left isolated. Also in the Massarosa area, firefighters intervened due to another large landslide. The state road 67 bis 'Tosco Romagnola' was temporarily closed to traffic in both directions to the Arnaccio.
Piedmont
The bad weather is causing inconvenience in the Alessandria area, in particular in Spinetta Marengo, a hamlet of the capital. Here the flooding of the Lovassina river caused flooding in Via Genova and other adjacent areas. For this reason, it was decided to open the Municipal Operations Center (Coc) of the Alessandria Civil Protection. The Civil Protection together with the local police are intervening on site by placing sandbags on the right side of the road, towards Novi Ligure. The mayor of Alessandria, Giorgio Abonante, carried out an inspection in the afternoon. In light of the current situation, the administration has decided to close schools tomorrow, in Spinetta and in the other suburb of Litta Parodi.
Two provincial roads were closed as a precaution this night in the Turin area due to avalanche danger. These are the provincial road of Prali and that of Massello. This was established with an ordinance by the Viability of the Metropolitan City of Turin, which has monitored the evolution of the situation since today, on the basis of the alert issued by the Local Avalanche Commission of the Montana Valli Chisone and Germanasca Union for «a potential increase of the risk of natural avalanches triggering”. Tomorrow a new evaluation will allow us to establish whether the conditions for practicability exist.
Emilia Romagna
The Emilian rivers are under close observation by the Civil Protection, but the situation is currently under control. In Allocco near Vado (Bologna), in an undammed mountain stretch of the stream, a protective wall of a private property collapsed where the Civil Protection intervened as a matter of urgency with the positioning of cyclopean boulders. On the Rhine, where the peak is currently passing due to the spread of the flood, in the locality of Bonconvento (Bologna) activities are underway for the opening of the Napoleonic cable (which played a decisive role in the May flood) which will allow a better flow causing the waters to flow into the Po. In the Parma and Reggio Emilia areas, the Enza stream has exceeded level 3 by a few centimeters in Sorbolo where the levels are falling. There are no particular critical issues noted, neither in the Reggio Emilia nor in the Parma area.
In the Parma area, flooding of cellars, basements and elevator shafts was recorded caused by the secondary network (canals, underpasses) which was currently being attenuated: these were limited situations in which the Fire Brigade intervened together with the Civil Protection volunteers. In Fontanellato, in the province of Parma, the evacuation of a person with mobility difficulties who lives near the Rovacchia stream was carried out as a completely precautionary measure. For the night, starting from 8pm, Ponte Alto, in Modena, and the Uccellino bridge, between Modena and Soliera, will remain closed. The municipal administration of the Emilian city made this known in a note.
The forecast of night rains and the melting of snow in the mountains determine a slow evolution of the flood peak of the Secchia river, as the Civil Protection technicians explain, thus determining the precautionary closure of the two infrastructures which will be reopened to traffic as soon as the river has fallen below threshold 2 which corresponds to 8 meters at Ponte Alto. In the meantime, the road in via Curtaton was closed to traffic around 4.30pm due to the rising level of the Tiepido stream. The orange alert for hydraulic criticality, issued by the regional agency for territorial security and civil protection, has been confirmed for the Modena area also for Wednesday 28 February with weather forecasts indicating disturbed weather conditions with widespread rainfall, of moderate intensity and even downpours.
Veneto anxious
The weather alert is rising in Veneto due to the bad weather that is hitting the region. The decentralized Function Center of the Civil Protection of Veneto has sent an update of the hydraulic and hydrogeological criticality warnings, raising the level of criticality for various river basins, in particular in the provinces of Vicenza, Verona, Padua and Treviso. Arpav's weather forecast indicates widespread and persistent rainfall for this afternoon, with frequent showers, even substantial quantities between the Pre-Alps and the central-northern plain, locally abundant in the pre-Alpine and piedmont areas; snowfall limit rising up to 1400/1800m in the Pre-Alps, 1200/1500m in the Dolomites.
The Coc meeting at 6.30 pm in the headquarters of the local police command took stock of the bad weather situation in Vicenza. The Retrone continues to be a concern, causing flooding of roads, basements and garages, even if the river level, which has reached 3.20, is rising with less intensity. This is communicated by Municipality of Vicenza. In the middle of the night, between 2 and 5, rain is expected, especially in the mountain areas, a phenomenon that will rapidly increase the flow of the Bacchiglione river in the early morning of tomorrow. The situation is being monitored by the civil engineering with respect to the possible opening of the Caldogno basin and Viale Diaz. The Coc has arranged monitoring shifts and active teams in the area throughout the night and for tomorrow. For any emergencies this night, citizens can call the toll-free number 800127812 or the local police operations center number 0444545311.
Schools closed in Vicenza
Given the continuation of adverse weather conditions and the forecast of further worsening, confirmed by the latest warning issued by the decentralized functional center of the Veneto Region, the Coc – Municipal Operations Center – has decided to close schools of all levels of the municipal territory of Vicenza for tomorrow. The decision, which also concerns all municipal gyms and sports facilities, was taken as a precaution in order not to congest the roads which must be left as free as possible to allow the prompt intervention of civil protection and emergency vehicles. In this regard, the Coc asks citizens to “limit travel as much as possible until the end of the emergency”. The Coc has also established the closure of the two socio-health day centers and the social aggregation centers in the neighbourhoods.
Bad weather in Vicenza, worries the Retrone river: three meters above sea level
Avalanche danger
Added to all this is the avalanche danger: in Trentino, where it continues to snow, the danger is defined as strong (level 4 of 5). Same level of danger in Veneto and in the Prealps and in Piedmont where the yellow alert is in force specifically for avalanches. The day ends with a certain tension in the North West but, looking closely at the forecasts, it won't end there.
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