The damage caused by the bad weather that hit Tuscany on November 2nd continues to count, with the (sad) death toll rising to 7 . The latest victim, Gianni Pasquini, 69 years old, was found this morning in a corn field in Campi Bisenzio (Florence), the area most affected by this wave, where 800 hectares of land ended up under water . However, an 84-year-old in Prato is still missing: the car he was driving, on his way home, was found yesterday "crumpled" in flooded ground but there is no trace of the man.
According to an initial estimate of the damage made known today by the President of the Region Eugenio Giani, it would amount to 300 million between public and private. The rescue machine continues to work at full speed without stopping, only the firefighters explain that in the five Tuscan provinces affected by the flood, 2,500 interventions have already been carried out, with 570 men in action and 150 vehicles. In Quarrata (Pistoia) the fire brigades also helped evacuate a newborn baby girl together with her parents with an amphibious vehicle. The head of the national civil protection Fabrizio Curcio spoke today with Giani, with whom they flew over the flooded areas in a helicopter, to take stock of the situation. Curcio announced the signing of the first ordinance of understanding with the Region, after the recognition of the national emergency, which will allow the first resources to be made available to help the population.
For Curcio, the most critical areas in terms of bad weather are those «of Prato, of Campi Bisenzio, the part of Pistoia: here we still have water in significant quantities» which «makes the restoration of the electrical part and essential services very complicated in some areas. We need to work a lot in the area to establish priorities especially for the most fragile people, for those who are already fragile due to problems and the elderly who cannot stay in homes where there is no energy and water." There would be 300 displaced people. Meanwhile in Campi Bisenzio, where hundreds of volunteers also coming from outside Tuscany have presented themselves to the Municipality and are equipped with overalls, gloves, shovels, the water pumps have been working non-stop since night, in particular in the area near the center of via Palagetta and the hamlet of San Piero a Ponti where everything is flooded and the water does not drain away.
According to Giani, this morning 14 thousand people could only be reached by amphibious vehicles , 12 thousand in Campi Bisenzio and another 2 thousand in Seano, in the municipality of Carmignano (Prato) and this evening there are around 5 thousand. On social media the governor launched an appeal not to travel to areas affected by bad weather so as not to hinder relief efforts. Meanwhile, the waterways continue to drop but the new orange weather alert is worrying and precautionary evacuations have been ordered in Prato, Montemurlo (Prato) and Montale (Pistoia).
(Unioneonline/vf)