“Blessed” rain fell in the last few hours on thirsty Sardinia.
Despite dozens of calls for help reaching the Nuoro fire department, which has been involved in approximately seventy interventions since yesterday due to flooding, blocked roads, and landslides between Baronia and Ogliastra, there is also a positive side to the storm: the Cedoc monitoring stations are recording significant rainfall, which will serve to increase the volume of water stored in the reservoirs.
The Pedra 'e Othoni dam station (Dorgali) recorded 138 millimeters of rain in the last 48 hours: this is the time span considered, but the greatest concentration occurred in the last 24 hours. At Monte Tului (Dorgali), over 129 millimeters were recorded. At the Orosei station, the figure was 136.6. Further south, at Ilbono, the station recorded almost 116 millimeters. While to the north, at Monte Pedrosu, in the Loiri Porto San Paolo area, the figure was 102.6 millimeters. The Maccheronis dam in Torpè also recorded a significant amount of rain, with 96.8 millimeters, while at the Santa Lucia dam (Villagrande Strisaili, Ogliastra) the figure was just under 70 millimeters. Heavy rain also fell in Olbia, where the Padrogiano station recorded over 85 millimeters.
The values are lower if you move west, where the bad weather only made a brief appearance. Only the Medio Campidano region recorded significant double-digit rainfall, with 40.4 millimeters at the Sanluri Strovina station.
The recent storm is not an isolated disturbance. Thanks to the rainfall of recent weeks, water levels are steadily recovering in the reservoirs of northwestern Sardinia (Temo, Cuga, and Bidighinzu). The situation is improving slightly, although the general emergency situation remains.
Given the positive trend in water supplies in the three lakes, Abbanoa announced, the Regional Institution Committee and the Sardinia Hydrographic District Agency (ADIS) have approved the suspension of restrictions during the Christmas holidays from Monday, December 22nd to Friday, January 2nd in all municipalities where water supply is guaranteed on alternate days. These include the municipalities of Thiesi, Ittiri, Tissi, Ossi, Sorso, Sennori, Usini, and Uri, served by the Bidighinzu aqueduct, and Bonorva and Bosa, served by the Temo aqueduct.
Nighttime closures will also be lifted in Alghero, served by the Cuga reservoir. This prudent approach, however, includes continuing monitoring over the coming days to determine whether the closure can be extended for a few more days.
Overall, according to the latest survey by the Sardinian Basin Authority, dated November 30, the island's artificial basins contained only 35% of their storage capacity, or 638.34 million cubic meters, a 1% decrease compared to the end of October but eight percentage points less than the figure for November 2024.
The latest rains may have reversed the trend.
