It’s Christmas day in Barga and most people are sitting around the table eating, or in front of the fire or TV but there is “no rest for the wicked” or the men from the Protezione Civile della Comunità Montana – the Civil Protection. This area is in a state of heightened tension thanks to climatic conditions which has meant that some of them were out until 4 am this morning They grabbed a few hours sleep and then were once more on the road again at first light.
The heavy snow fall just before Christmas, the more or less continuous heavy rainfall ever since, followed by a super quick thawing as temperatures jumped from -10 to +15 in the space of just a few hours has meant that all that meltwater flowing down the valleys and into the Serchio river has combined to create a potentially extremely dangerous situation.
Assessore alla Protezione Civile della Comunità Montana, Pietro Onesti, the Chief of Police and Head engineer from the Comune took to the air this afternoon to patrol the area from above to mark out some of the landslides and spot others that were not possible to see from the ground.
There have been dozens of landslides through out the the territory, including one on the road to Albiano, which has since been closed to traffic, but most are not of a serious nature – workmen can begin clearing the mud and fallen rocks later tomorrow and transport can continue to move around the area without too many problems.
Down by the River Serchio, things are a bit more difficult though. According to Onesti the river is now flowing at its highest level in over 50 years.
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From the helicopter they spotted a lorry under the Gallicano bridge in serious danger of being swept way by the floods and a recent landslide in Fornaci close to the swollen banks of the Serchio threatened a nearby house.
The occupants were evacuated and will spend this evening with friends until engineers can investigate the damage in daylight.
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Click on the link below to hear a short interview with Pietro Onesti (in Italiano) as he talks about some of the damage to this area from the flooding and landslides.