Snow in Rome

Polar Italy

An exceptional wave of polar cold has struck Italy during the last week. The biting cold has affected all the country causing already more than 40 deaths.

The snowfalls affected mainly the Adriatic coast from north to south. A shocking record has been hit in Liguria with -21 degrees. The canal water froze in Venice and the river Arno Iced in Florence. Temperatures way below zero have been reported in Emilia Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, eastern sectors of Tuscany, Lazio, Molise and Campania. Snowflakes were seen at over four hundred meters of altitude even in Sardinia, Basilicata and in central areas of Calabria and Sicily.

A new wave of bad weather is expected at the weekend, causing cold temperatures and more snow to the North-South Centre, while It will continue to snow on the plains of Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, eastern areas of Tuscany, Central and eastern areas of southern Lazio, Molise and Campania. Snow, at altitudes 100-300, also in Sardinia, Basilicata, on the central and northern areas of the northern regions of Calabria and Puglia and above the 400-600 meters in some areas of Calabria and Sicily.

In the Lazio region the civil protection is still working to rescue groups of people isolated by the snow but the most serious inconveniences have affected the Abruzzo region, which is still almost completely isolated from the rest of the country.

The situation remains very serious in the Chieti area, and especially in Aquilano Marsica where for seven days the civil protection has not been able to provide assistance in all the areas remained isolated. The big blackout, caused by the lack of road viability in Abruzzo still concerns thousands of citizens, often left without the use of heating. In the high Sangro, Ortona dei Marsi, in the Valley Subequana Bisegna and other small towns in the Abruzzo National Park (area Pescasseroli) the snowpack exceeded 220 cm. There are towns and villages completely isolated and the health of many elderly residents is at risk. In Molise region some small towns in Isernia and Campobasso are still isolated. The region has asked for the intervention of the military force to face the more than 2 meters of snow.

The civil protection’s intervention has been strongly criticized. According to the head of the civil protection department Franco Gabrielli, the law 10 of 2011 has made it quite impossible for the civil protection to operate because of the drastic reduction of funds.

As “Repubblicaonline” reported the damage caused by bad weather according to the evaluation of Confagricoltura oscillates between 400 and 500 million euro. In Piedmont there is a loss of about 50 million euro (20 for the horticultural sector, 30 for fruit). In Liguria, the bill is 5 million, in Lombardia Confagricoltura asked the President of the Region Formigoni the state of natural disaster. In Emilia Romagna, there is estimated a loss of 150 million euro. In Northern Lazio and Frosinate many farms are damaged and isolated. Sardinia is suffering a shortage of fodder for livestock, while Campania fears repercussions on employment. Confagricoltura in Salerno has activated an emergency number to call for “agricultural disaster”. In Abruzzo it is not yet possible to quantify the damage And Confagricoltura has already asked the state of regional disaster. Finally there is a tragic situation in Molise where there are heavy snowstorms and high winds.

Giulia Lombardo