The regional Civil Protection Department is closely monitoring and managing the high-risk situation currently affecting Sardinia, characterized by the simultaneous presence of high temperatures, locally intense thunderstorms, and conditions favorable to the development of forest fires.
The current weather situation is creating unusual conditions for the island. Over the past week, the Decentralized Functional Center has issued two warnings for adverse weather conditions related to high temperatures.
Today, as in the previous two days, a yellow-coded warning has also been issued for hydrogeological risk due to thunderstorms in many of Sardinia's high-alert zones.
Inland, localized thunderstorms are developing, especially in the afternoon, which may be intense, accompanied by heavy rainfall, hail, and wind gusts of up to about 70 km/h . In some areas, rainfall accumulations exceeding 40 millimeters have been recorded in just a few hours.
In Mandas, for example, 35 millimeters of water fell in less than two hours . This event caused extensive flooding and several trees to fall. A damage assessment will be carried out in the coming hours, but Mayor Umberto Oppus announced that he has declared a state of natural disaster. "After various inspections, we have declared a state of natural disaster and will begin assessing the damage tomorrow."
At the same time, fire danger forecast bulletins report medium-risk conditions, yellow code, across much of the region, almost overlapping with the areas affected by the storms.
At the same time, heat wave conditions persist, with high nighttime minimum temperatures of around 24 degrees and maximum temperatures that in some places have exceeded 40 degrees.
This combination of phenomena determines the simultaneous exposure of the territory to hydrogeological risk from storms and to the risk of fires , and also requires particular attention to high temperatures.
"Although we are now at the end of June and are more accustomed to dealing with the danger of fires and high temperatures," comments Mauro Merella, Director General of the Civil Protection Department, "in recent days, weather conditions have necessitated the issuance of ordinary criticality warnings due to hydrogeological risks due to thunderstorms. For this reason, I would urge mayors, now and throughout the summer, in the event of similar conditions, not to lower their guard and not to underestimate the yellow code because, as we always repeat, yellow does not mean that the phenomena are mild or less intense, but only that they are localized. I urge the public to adopt prudent behavior, follow the authorities' instructions, and consult only official channels for updates on the situation," concludes Merella.
(Unioneonline/AD)