Shoring up Italy against natural
disasters must be a priority for the government, Civil
Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said on Wednesday in a
briefing to parliament on Last week's flooding and landslide
emergency in Emilia Romagna that claimed 15 lives and caused
billions of euros of damage.
"We must make securing the national territory the priority of
the political government agenda of this executive and all its
ramifications across the territory," said Musumeci.
Italy, he added, "is a nation more inclined to rebuild than to
prevent. Events like the one in Emilia Romagna cannot be
predicted, but the disastrous effects they produce can be
reduced".
Musumeci said a national plan is needed that is "designed
according to a joint strategy, which has so far been lacking".
The minister added that the government is also looking at how to
simplify procedures for reconstruction.
In shoring up the country, Musumeci said he is not only
referring to flooding and hydrogeological instability, but also
to earthquake risk.
"How many strategic infrastructure works could withstand a
certain level of seismic stress? How many municipalities in
Italy could be reached by emergency vehicles in the event of an
earthquake?" he asked.
These, he continued, are important questions "in consideration
of the fact that that more than half of the national territory
falls within a seismic zone and almost 94% is at risk of
landslides or flooding or hydrogeological instability".
Musumeci told parliament in Emilia Romagna a total of 23 rivers
flooded as a result of the torrential rainfall, 500 roads had to
be closed due to flooding or landslides, and 23,000 people were
evacuated.
Some 622 roads remained closed, including many minor ones, he
added.
However, the minister said regular transit is expected to resume
in the next few hours and that railway services should be almost
fully operational by early June.
Meanwhile, he said some 54,000 people are still without power,
"a few tens of thousands" without mobile phone service and
14,600 users without a fixed-line service.
It is not possible to restore services for the time being due to
persistent flooding, he told parliament, adding that "it is
hoped that in the coming days everything will return to normal".
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