Von der Leyen in Emilia-Romagna Thursday says Bonaccini

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 23 - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Emilia-Romagna Thursday to see for herself relief efforts after the floods that have killed 14 people and caused widespread devastation, Governor Stefano Bonaccini said Tuesday.
    Speaking after meeting Premier Giorgia Meloni after she approved sweeping relief measures at a special cabinet meeting on the floods, Bonaccini said "on Thursday President von der leyen will come".
    Bonaccini added that the region already had a model for reconstruction, that used after a devastating 2012 earthquake, and stressed that a specific decree would be needed for reconstruction.
    "Thank you to the premier for coming to our wounded land and so to the ministers and undersecretaries. We have brought the business system, the professionals and the unions. It is a way of working that we have already experienced and which has been very useful in tackling the emergency and reconstruction," Bonaccini said after meeting Meloni in Rome.
    "There are those who have lost everything and those who have lost almost everything.
    "The damage to the roads alone is one billion," he added.
    "We will then need a decree for reconstruction. With 12 billion euros of damage from the earthquake, we have rebuilt almost everything. We need simplification rules for an intervention capacity that is adequate for a reconstruction that is done well, in full respect of legality, but also quickly, to restart a region that is first in terms of per capita exports. There are billions of euro of damage. There are 300 active landslides, entire forests have come down, there is the issue of rivers, and there is the issue of roads and infrastructure".
    In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Emilia Romagna within the space of a few days, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. (ANSA).