Veneto declared a state of emergency due to adverse weather conditions and activated the Crisis Unit after the "exceptional rainfall" which mainly affected the Vicenza, Veronese and Lower Padua areas.
The opening of the rolling basins made it possible to avoid a "disaster", explained the governor Luca Zaia in a press point at the Civil Protection of Marghera. « We didn't expect a flood like this in mid-May – he added – It is an exceptional phenomenon due to its seasonality and its characteristics: intense downpours in a very short time, which do not allow the surface water to clear away quickly. We are in objective difficulty. We are faced with an unusual, unplanned event."
Once the state of emergency has been decreed, work is already underway to restore the damage, especially due to the breaching of numerous embankments: «There is concern about the forecasts - continued Zaia - which now require us to say and pay close attention, and I invite citizens to move except for what is strictly necessary and in any case away from the banks".
The bad weather is now moving to the east: «We will have a battle until tomorrow - he observes - and then we will see how it goes. There is maximum alert." For Zaia, among the causes there is also the action on the banks of nutria and badgers: «The breach in Castelnuovo and Isola Vicentina is the demonstration. Without wishing harm to these animals, we must safeguard the lives of citizens. We cannot allow this to continue and surely a remedy must be found."
In the Padua area, according to Coldiretti, cereal and vegetable lands were flooded, submerging newly sprouted corn, wheat almost ready for harvest, as well as newly sown soybeans and pumpkins. The heavy rains also submerged several plots in the Upper Polesine and Lower Padua areas.
Since Wednesday, over 280 rescue operations have been carried out by firefighters due to bad weather in the Region.
(Unioneonline/D)
