It was the night between Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th September 2006 when the overflow of ditches and canals brought Falconara to its knees, after a wave of exceptional bad weather which affected a large part of the province of Ancona. A frightening flood event, not the only one, which sent the industrial area, the airport, but above all the hamlets such as Castelferretti, Villanova and Fiumesino under water. Houses, companies, cars overwhelmed by the mud: the flood even reached the refinery and submerged the historic Avion hotel. Since then we have been working in an obstacle race between financing (and de-financing) and projects to combat hydrogeological risk. This is why, April 16, 2024 is “a historic date for our city”. Words pronounced by the mayor of Falconara Stefania Signorini, yesterday, on the embankment of the San Sebastiano ditch, at the delivery of the two expansion tanks (the other on the Cannetacci, ed.). In fact, the works carried out by the Marche Region and the Land Reclamation Consortium have been completed, as part of an agreement with the Province and the Municipalities involved. “The investment is substantial, equal to approximately 3 million and 500 thousand euros – recalled the regional councilor for Soil Defense and Water Resources Stefano Aguzzi –. It is our priority to avoid the recurrence of flood phenomena with devastating consequences”. Claudio Netti, sole director of Bonifica Marche Engineering, the Consortium’s in-house company, followed suit: “In 2006, when there was the flood, the damages, if reported to date, exceeded 100 million euros. We spent 17 million making the territory absolutely safe. Prevention costs less than repair.” The reassurances, to technicians and politicians present yesterday, from the president of the Consortium Assembly Francesca Gironi: “This work has sufficient capacity to contain a flood likely to occur every 200 years”. The tanks will invade significant volumes of water (475 thousand cubic meters on the San Sebastiano, 254 thousand on the Cannetacci) which, once the flood wave has passed, will be gradually returned to the territory, lowering the criticality thresholds and avoiding the flooding of anthropized areas. The hydraulic sections are also adequate. “Now we will arrange the connections between the crates and the Liscia ditch to complete the work”, concluded Netti. “In two years we should succeed”, explained the director of the regional civil protection Stefano Stefoni. Once the interventions have been completed, the Municipalities of Falconara, Camerata Picena (the mayor Davide Fiorini was also present yesterday) and Ancona will be able to request “delimitation from the PAI, the hydrogeological management plan” for sensitive areas, he added.
Giacomo Giampieri
