As Frank Viviano in his article pointed out a week ago, it was about time that somebody put some of the earthquake fears into context.
A some readers had already noticed, the last article concerning seismic events was no longer titled an “earthquake” but instead was “earth tremors”
FRank mentioned – in the 532 years since 1480, a total of fewer than 100 people have died in earthquakes in Barga.
In the famous 1920 quake, 171 people died in the entire Garfagnana-Lunigiana region. But the vast majority of the victims were from the Fivizzano area, center of this year’s swarm of tremors.
That is less than the number of deaths registered by auto accidents in the Province of Lucca in the 5 years between 2007 and 2012 — a mortality rate more than 100 times greater than that posed by earthquakes.
All well and good and that concise logical article was just what was needed as a kind of “earthquake hysteria” was starting to take hold in this area, especially in some of the press articles but there is also the other side of the coin which must not be ignored – that of the hidden problem that people have to deal with when ancient buildings are starting to show signs of stress due to the tremors.
This morning the following email arrived at barganews, we publish it here in full and in both languages to illustrate the point.
My name is Imogen McNamara. I am an Australian resident in Italy for nine and a half years. I am an qualified Italian Sommelier. I work representing Italian wineries in the international market.
I was on holiday in Australia when an earthquake struck the small town of Brucciano in the Garfagnana, Tuscany where I live. The earthquake damaged an old belItower, the large village church, the canonica, a chapel and the village hall. I returned to Brucciano on the 20th February to find a notice on my front door forbidding entry to my home under threat of arrest and imprisonment.
My office is located on the second floor of my home, which is sited under the belltower.
I moved to a vacant house of friends in Brucciano which had no fixed phone. The snow was so deep that after a week access to the house became extremely difficult. I moved to another house across the valley for 3 weeks, then returned to a house of friends in Brucciano. In mid April I moved again to a house of English friends who had returned to England. On the 11th June they returned and I moved again. I have moved house a total of 6 times.
Without files, documents, computer equipment and internet it has been impossible to continue with my work.
Although entitled to a small amount of compensation from the region I have been told I will have to wait 70 days to be given this.
The Sindaco of Molazzana gave the Curia of Lucca 90 days in which to secure the damaged buildings.
The Bruccianese are a close knit and supportive community. To a one we are catholics. We observe religious ceremonies, attend mass and over the years both money and property have been donated to the church.
In good faith we waited for the repairs to be done to the belltower. We waited the 90 days. No work was done. The Sindaco gave the Curia a further extension of 60 days in order to have the work completed by the mid August. No work has started.
One Sunday in June the parishioners told the parish priest that I, and they, were all moving into my house on the 1st of July in protest over the lack of work and that all were prepared to be arrested. At this point after 4 and a half months the parish priest came to speak to me. He suggested that I move my office into a makeshift kitchen which has neither phone, nor internet, and which is used to say mass on Sundays. When I said how disappointed I was that it took him so long to speak to me, he replied that it was because I was not at Brucciano. I suggested that he could have phoned me and he replied that he didn’t have my phone number.
How is it that the Curia can disregard what by law they are obliged to repair?
How is it that there is so little concern for the disruption to the Bruccianese community and the effects of constant displacement on me?
Why has there been so little courtesy, such poor communication and so little support for a community who have always been so faithful to the church?
The Bruccianese feel abandoned. They are angry and now are prepared to take direct action in order for the repairs to be effected. As one resident said, ‘It hurts me, in my throat and in my heart, that we can be treated thus.’
Mi chiamo Imogen McNamara. Sono un’australiana residente in Italia da oltre nove anni. Di professione sono sommelier, e faccio la rappresentante per diverse Case Vinicole Italiane sul mercato internazionale.
Ero in vacanza in Australia quando un terremoto colpì il villaggio di Brucciano in Garfagnana (provincia di Lucca), dove vivo. Il terremoto danneggiò il campanile, la chiesa, la canonica, una cappella e la sala per le feste del villaggio. Al mio ritorno a Brucciano il 20 di febbraio scorso trovai un avviso sulla porta di ingresso che mi proibiva di entrare in casa mia sotto pena di arresto e carcere.
Il mio ufficio si trova al secondo piano di casa mia, e la casa è situata sotto il campanile.
Mi sono spostata provvisoriamente nella casa di amici miei a Brucciano, casa che peraltro era senza linea telefonica fissa. La neve era così abbondante che dopo una settimana l’accesso alla casa era diventato problematico. Mi spostai in un’altra casa sull’altro versante della valle per 3 settimane, poi ritornai nella casa di amici a Brucciano. A metà aprile mi spostai di nuovo nella casa di amici inglesi che erano temporaneamente assenti. In data 11 di giugno sono tornati e ho dovuto traslocare di nuovo.
Senza i miei archivi, i miei documenti, la mia attrezzatura informatica e Internet, è stato impossibile per me continuare il lavoro.
Benché abbia diritto a una piccola indennità da parte della Regione, mi è stato detto che dovrò aspettare 70 giorni prima di riceverla.
Il Sindaco di Molazzana aveva dato 90 giorni di tempo alla Curia di Lucca per la messa in sicurezza degli edifici danneggiati.
I Bruccianesi sono una piccola comunità unita e pronta ad aiutare chi si trovasse in difficoltà. Siamo cattolici, partecipiamo alle cerimonie religiose, frequentiamo la messa e negli anni la Chiesa ha ricevuto donazioni in denaro e in beni immobili da parte dei parrocchiani.
In buona fede abbiamo aspettato che si facessero i lavori sul campanile. Abbiamo aspettato 90 giorni. Nessun lavoro è stato fatto. Il Sindaco allora ha dato alla Curia una proroga di altri 60 giorni, in modo che i lavori (per la messa in sicurezza del campanile) siano terminati entro il 18 di agosto. I lavori non sono neppure iniziati.
Una domenica in giugno fa i parrocchiani dissero al parroco che loro sarebbero tutti entrati in casa mia insieme a me il 1° di luglio, in segno di protesta per la non esecuzione dei lavori e che erano tutti disposti a farsi arrestare. A questo punto, dopo quattro mesi e mezzo il parroco venne a parlarmi. Mi propose di traslocare il mio ufficio in una specie di cucina che non ha né telefono né internet, e che viene usata la domenica per dire messa. Quando gli chiesi perché aveva aspettato tanto tempo a parlarmi, mi disse che era perché non mi trovavo a Brucciano. Quando gli chiesi perché non mi aveva neanche mai telefonato, mi rispose che non aveva il mio numero.
Come è possibile che la Curia possa trascurare le riparazioni che per legge dovrebbe fare?
Come è possibile che ci sia così poco riguardo per il turbamento sociale della Comunità dei Bruccianesi e per l’effetto dei miei continui forzosi spostamenti?
Come mai vi è stata una tale mancanza di cortesia, una tale scarsità di comunicazione e una tale assenza di supporto per una comunità che è sempre stata fedele alla chiesa?
I Bruccianesi si sentono abbandonati. Sono arrabbiati e sono pronti a un’azione diretta perché i lavori vengano fatti. Uno dei residenti mi ha detto “…mi ferisce nella gola e nell’anima, di essere trattati così…”
The key point in the infuriating tale of Imogen McNamara is that there is nothing wrong whatsoever with her own home, from which she has been exiled at the threat of criminal prosecution. Ms. McNamara and her neighbors have been admirably responsible in the maintenance of their buildings and in their duties as citizens. By contrast, the Church has been transparently irresponsible, utterly dismissive of the law and contemptuous beyond all moral credibility of the very people it pretends to regard as its flock. The archbishop of Lucca is the one who ought to be threatened with prosecution and imprisonment, not Ms. McNamara. But in a nation whose longtime prime minister views legal restraints on his loathsome behavior as a standing joke, that’s not likely. Nor have the local authorities — representing the center-left — sufficiently done their duty to protect the lives and livelihoods of constituents in the face of criminally negligent institutions. In a just society, that bell tower would have been reinforced or torn down, if it is so dangerous, many months ago. We are left to conclude that the law is one thing, but powerful vested interests are another, and when the two are in conflict it is seldom justice that triumphs. Or am I wrong, Sindaco? The decision lies in your hands.