Italy lashed by bad weather: worker dies in Potentino, alert to rivers and snow chaos

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06 December 2020

Italy plagued by bad weather from North to South. The rain never stops beating, causing the rivers in the Modena area to flood, where 60 families have been evacuated.

And there is a victim: it is a worker overwhelmed by water in the Potentino.

Worker who died in the Potentino

This is a 51-year-old man who died in the afternoon in Pignola: overwhelmed by the water, he fell into a canal that crosses the road, while he was intervening to verify the consequences of bad weather in the area.

The man worked on behalf of the municipal technical office.

During the inspection in an area near the lake of Pantano he was overwhelmed by water and mud and ended up in one of the drainage channels that pass under the roadway.

The fire brigade intervened on the spot to extract the body.

Criticizes the situation in

.

"Due to the risk of landslides and avalanches caused by the bad weather of these hours, I invite all citizens to avoid heading towards the Belluno area" is the appeal of the President Governor, Luca Zaia, on the basis of updates on the situation in the province of Belluno, where connections and roads are in crisis due to rains, snow and consequent landslides.

A small bridge over a stream collapsed yesterday evening due to bad weather in the area of ​​Belluno, in Gosaldo, causing a vehicle of the firefighters to fall into the shore, empty because the three occupants had already made themselves safe.

The President of Veneto has started the process for the declaration of a state of crisis for the areas of the region affected by bad weather.

The state of crisis, at the moment, concerns municipalities in the areas of the Alto Vicentino, the Pedemontana Treviso and the territory of the Province of Belluno.

In the Sesto Dolomites, as well as in the Dolomites between the Marmolada and Fiera di Primiero the avalanche danger is "very high" (grade 5 of 5).

In the rest of

, with the exception of the Adige valley, it is "strong" (grade 4 of 4).

There are numerous isolated locations.

In the most affected regions, 80 to 140 cm of snow fell.

In many regions, 60 to 110 cm of snow will fall on Sunday, locally even more.

To make the situation even more difficult the strong wind from the south that causes accumulations of snow. 

In

, the break of the embankment of the

river 

which produced a copious outflow of water took place in the municipal area of ​​Castelfranco Emilia, not far from Nonantola and Modena.

In compliance with current legislation relating to the covid emergency, three structures have been set up for the reception of any displaced persons: the Pala Reggiani, the Palestra delle Scuole Guinizelli and the Palestra delle Scuole "Rosse".

A section of the railway between Castelfranco and Modena is closed.

Railway traffic suspended on some sections of the Brenner-Bolzano line, closed the

which is not reachable even from Austria.

Since yesterday evening, the

motorway

northwards between Vipiteno and Brennero and the state road in both directions between Colle Isarco and the state border

are also blocked

.

For this reason, Austria cannot currently be reached via the crossing.

The Brenner motorway remains closed to the north between Vipiteno and the state border. The decision was taken during a Civil Protection summit on the recommendation of the Avalanche Commission. In

other hand, landslides and several blocked roads are recorded. Rivers and streams are specially supervised.

In Levico, as a precaution, the bridges were closed, while along the sp 133 del Menador, which connects Caldonazzo and Levico with Monte Rovere, a landslide occurred which blocked traffic: in addition to having spilled onto the asphalt a large flow of mud and debris, a plant also ended up in the street. A landslide was also recorded along the provincial road 65, between Telve and Torcegno, in Valsugana: also in this case the road is blocked. Also in Valsugana, the raising of the level of the

is arousing concern: as the mayor of Borgo Valsugana also testifies, during the night the closing operations "of the bridge at the Cusso bar were completed and the barriers at the bridge between via Rome and Viale Città di Prato ", explains the mayor. "In Olle, on the other hand, a section of Via Volpi has been closed. Therefore tomorrow the ordinary road network will be partially modified. Please pay close attention and avoid approaching dangerous places. Thanks to the Fire Brigade, mountain basins and civil protection" . During the night, landslides and landslides were recorded along the sp 79 of Brocono. The hamlets of Ronco - Chiesa and Ronco - Cainari, in Vanoi, have therefore remained isolated. Fire brigade and road management service are on site for interventions and checks.

Two landslides occurred in Palermo, on the Palermo-Sciacca and Termini Imerese-Caccamo state roads. The first involved the section near Ponte Balletto, between San Cipirello and Camporeale. Numerous floods in Palermo: in Mondello (in the area of ​​piazza Valdesi, viale Regina Elena and principe di Scalea), in Partanna Mondello, in via Messina Marine (near the Buccheri La Ferla hospital). Via Imera closed to traffic. In Messina and its province flooded roads and landslides in Terme Vigliatore, in Basicò, Novara di Sicilia and Tripi. The connections with the Aeolian Islands have been stopped since yesterday afternoon due to the strong Scirocco wind. In the city of the Strait the municipal administration has ordered the closure of the cemeteries and municipal villas, given that even today there is an orange alert level. The Covid-19 screening campaign for students, scheduled for today and postponed until tomorrow, has been postponed. Again due to bad weather, in Messina, the port of Tremestieri is again closed. The ships are diverted to the historic port and the San Francesco bay, consequently the trucks cross the city center. In Messina landslides and floods, some houses evacuated.

In Rome, the closure of the accesses to the banks of the Tiber has been ordered - "The Civil Protection of Rome Capital has ordered the closure of the accesses to the banks of the Tiber, on the basis of the information from the Regional Functional Center, issued at 4:05 on 6 December, with which is communicated that, following the rains that have affected and affect the Tiber river basin and its main tributaries, it is expected that from the afternoon / evening of Sunday 6 December 2020 the water levels of the Tiber will partially affect the banks of the stretch urban in the most depressed areas. The initial flooding of the quays of the urban section at the hydrometric station of Ripetta was identified at 7.00 m ". This was announced by the official Twitter profile of the Municipality of Rome.

The most critical situation is manifesting itself in Reggio, where there have been various flooding of streets and basements and some trees have also fallen. Dozens of interventions by the fire brigade. The wind also damaged the roofs of some houses. The Municipality of Reggio Calabria has ordered the closure of the municipal villa due to the risk of falling trees.

Precipitation including storms is affecting, in particular, various municipalities in the Caserta area and in the province of Naples in Campania. Interventions by civil protection teams of the Campania Region equipped with water pumps are underway in Torre del Greco. The Liri-Garigliano river is under observation. Monitoring by the Functional Center and the Operations Room continues, in close collaboration with the National Department: an operational committee was held this morning and a new brief will be held in the afternoon. In various areas of the territory there are storms, even of strong intensity, strong southern winds with gusts and rough seas.