The devastating course of the flood
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5th November 1994, Saturday
It
has been raining for three days but there is nothing unusual in the everyday atmosphere.
In the areas surrounding the town, the streams overflow as they generally do in similar
situations, and the people remark that it is "the inevitable overflowing to be
expected when the ditches are not regularly cleaned". On the contrary it is a first
warning sign. Meanwhile the level of the Tanaro rises. At 6 a.m. the Magistrate of the Po
sends a fax to put on alert some villages and towns (among which Alessandria) owing to
"the protraction of the unfavourable weather conditions". The usual onlookers
gather on the Cittadella Bridge to check the water level but now they look at the Tanaro
with different eyes and worry begins to replace mere curiosity. At 12 p.m. the Mayor
decides to close the Cittadella Bridge to traffic, consequently cars are diverted either
to the Orti Bridge or to the motorway.
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The onlookers on the Cittadella Bridge |
6th
November 1994, Sunday
At 3 a.m. the traffic flow is suspended on the Orti Bridge. Most people in Alessandria sleep peacefully: they either do not know what is happening or they are, in spite of it all, optimistic.
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At 6.17 the
Prefect’s Office, after being warned by the Magistrate of the Po, sends the Council a
bulletin containing information about the overflowing of the Tanaro in the town of Asti,
the forecast of a forthcoming flood in Alessandria and the request to take evacuation and
rescue measures in the town of Alessandria. |
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But this fax and other faxes giving news about the urban centres from Garessio to Ceva, from Alba to Asti, flooded by water, follow one another without being read by their addressees because the offices are empty: it is a holiday. |
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Meanwhile the
Tanaro goes on rising. Late in the morning the football match Alessandria-Bologna is
cancelled. At about 12 a.m. the Tanaro overflows its banks and rapidly invades Via Vochieri, Via Casale, Corso Virginia Marini and slowly reaches the centre. |
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The railway
embankment of the line Alessandria - Asti which had had the function of a dam, starts
cracking in several points and from 1 p.m. on, it causes the rapid overflowing of
the suburbs of San Michele, Borgo Cittadella, Astuti, Giardinetto. |
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Electricity, water, gas, telephone lines: everything is out of
order.
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The water goes on rising until evening.
Alessandria, spalto Borgoglio 6th November 1994, 1:40 p.m. |
Alessandria, spalto Borgoglio 6th November 1994, 1:50 p.m. |
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| There are
people who reach safety by going upstairs, taking refuge in the house of their friends or
on the roofs, some cling to the branches of trees, some, luckily, are
in higher places like a flyover or a bridge and some others, unfortunately, cannot cope
with the dramatic situation. |
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In the
afternoon the scenery of the town and the neighbourhood is unreal: muddy and putrid water
everywhere, cries for help, moans, desperate calls resound confusedly and merge with the
gloomy noise of the engines of the helicopters flying in the leaden sky, with the sirens
of the ambulances and the Fire Brigade. At night all around is dark and silent. In a few
hours the fury of the Tanaro has ravaged three quarters of the town. The remaining quarter
of the inhabitants of Alessandria live an ordinary Sunday afternoon and are still unaware
of the catastrophe. They will learn from the media that the town is under water.
Map of the
flooded areas: |
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| General view | Confluence Tanaro-Bormida | City center |
7th
November 1994, Monday
During
the night the water subsides leaving stinking and slippery mud everywhere: it makes
everything unrecognizable.
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At 12 a.m. in Via Giordano Bruno there is still 1 metre of water and the firemen go along it on a boat to rescue the inhabitants of the quarter. It is a moment of frantic coming and going of involved people and of onlookers, of orders and counterorders, of comments, there is a continuous flashing of yellow and blue lights, but late in the afternoon, opposite the San Michele Residence, the stream still flows rapidly even if the level of the water has decreased remarkably. It is therefore still dangerous to go along that stretch of road. |
8th
November 1994, Tuesday
The water has
subsided; only the fields are still flooded. And the situation appears highly dramatic.
There is destruction everywhere and now anger and complaints replace fear. The following
days are therefore the most distressing but they are also the days of the reconstruction
work, which will be non-stop for years to come.
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English |
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