BOLOGNA – A very intense storm hit the area on the border between Modena and Bolognese: a Vignola, Savignano sul Panaro, Monteveglio, Bazzano the roads turned into rivers, and the waterways swelled enormously in a short time. In Emilia-Romagna, after a year, the fear of flooding has returned, with the population searching for information online and exchanging photographs of unrecognizable towns. And today, May 21st, schools are closed, while in the Emilia-Romagna area aweather alert for storms, river floods, landslides.
Almost 200 mm of rain in a few hours
Locations like Ant, Vignola, Savignano saw up to 175 mm of rain fall per day in about three hours. “Rain already abundant in itself, but with the aggravating circumstance that it fell in just 3 hours or even less in some cases”, notes the meteorologist Luca Lombroso. Also hit MaranoMonteveglio, Bazzano and Stiore of Valsamoggia, Spilamberto. For these locations, this is the equivalent of the rain expected in two months, he explains Emilia-Romagna weatherwhich highlights how in other centers even within a short distance (15-20 km), such as Zola Predosa or Sassuolo, it rained very little, in comparison. So precipitation has accumulated in some areas in particular.
Fears for Samoggia
Floods were recorded in Savignano sul Panaro (Rio d’Orzo) and also in Monteveglio. As far as waterways are concerned, it was above all the Samoggia, which at 8.15pm at the height of Bazzano had exceeded the red threshold, the highest, by 60 cm, reaching an altitude of 2.17 metres. At 5.45 this morning the level dropped to the yellow threshold, 0.42 metres, while approaching the orange threshold located at 11.5 meters in Forcelli, between San Giovanni in Persiceto and Sala Bolognese.
Schools closed. The situation in Valsamoggia
All schools in Vignola, Savignano and Valsamoggia will remain closed today 21 May as a precaution. In some institutes, damage was found limited to some parts of the buildings. It was therefore decided to keep the classrooms closed so that more in-depth checks could be carried out on Tuesday morning.
The mayor of Valsamoggia Daniele Ruscigno speaks of accumulations of 80mm of rain in some points of the municipal territory, “the amount of rain that is expected on average in 3 months. So far there are no injured or missing people while there have been several interventions to help the population”. Extensive damage has been detected to a water pipe in Castelletto due to which the service is currently interrupted. At 11pm, with the aim of using the area as an expansion tank, the technicians of the Emilia-Romagna Region decided to break the Muzza embankment to allow the water to flow into the active part of the Padulle quarry.
Before midnight the roads closed in the Valsamoggia area were Tiola, Marzola, Marzatore, Castello, Secchiano, the Muzza SPadetta underpass.
The work of firefighters in the Modena area
In the Modena area, from 7pm to 11pm, there were around 40 interventions carried out by the fire brigade, particularly in the municipalities of Savignano, Vignola and Marano. Over 80 requests still to be verified for flooding and garage emptying. Ten operational teams from the Modena Command and five other teams coming as reinforcements from other commands in the region to meet the requests, with around 70 firefighters in action.
Still rain in progress: red threshold for rivers in the Piacenza area
Meanwhile, it continues to rain in some areas of the region. The rainiest area since midnight, explains the meteorological technician Roberto Nanni, it was Piacenza with 41 mm in Piacenza and 51 mm in Bedasco. Red threshold for the Arda in Fiorenzuola and for the Luretta in the locality of the same name.
The forecast for the next few hours
For meteorologist Luca Lombroso on Tuesday there are “possible strong showers and thunderstorms tomorrow morning, especially in the central western area of Emilia Romagna. There will be a respite on Tuesday afternoon, while Wednesday and Thursday will see disturbed variability with thunderstorms in the afternoon. Friday and Rain and thunderstorms will regain strength on Saturday, with the hope of a clear and changeable day on Sunday.”
