Refunds
It’s over now almost a year since the flood which shocked Emilia-Romagna in May 2023. In those tragic two weeks, from 2 to 17 Maythe destructive force of nature – 350 million cubic meters of water fell from the sky in a few hours – caused the death of seventeen people and the displacement of over 20 thousand inhabitants. In June 2023 the Region had spoken of a preliminary estimate of the damages which was around nine billion euros. Right from the start, together with the Government, the need for timely and targeted intervention was underlined to deal with the extreme difficulties that the population was facing.
But almost twelve months after the tragedy, where are we at? How much are the refreshments paid to families and businesses? How many still need to be allocated?
The press office of the Emilia-Romagna Region confirmed that so far they have been approximately 4 billion euros allocated against almost 9 billion in estimated damages. Of these 4 billion, the Government granted “1.1 billion for private reconstruction, 2.5 billion for public reconstruction and 250 million for agriculture. To these must be added 700 million in tax credit to finance reconstruction private – provided for by the 2024 budget law – and 1.2 billion from the Pnrr funds, not yet operational due to the lack of decrees. The resources put in place by the Government are then accompanied by approximately 375 million from the European Solidarity Fund, of which 94 .7 million already advanced”.
Meanwhile, the extraordinary commissioner for reconstruction, general Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, declared: «I don’t know if in the record books, after 9 months, which might seem like a long time, there have been any refunds. I can tell you that there are people who have the check in their hands.”
Su 90,000 families And businesses entitled to refunds, there are 1900 who have filled out the form question on the Sphinx platform (active from 15 November 2023). Of these, 40 received the green light to provide the contribution and 29 are receiving their first 50% deposit. It should be remembered, however, that only the 64% of actually proven damages are compensated: on an average value of appraisals of 39,700 euros, that of reimbursements is 25,700. The commissioner structure points out that the difference is mainly due to the separation of movable assets which, to date, have not been compensated.
He intervened on this front Antonio Mumolo, regional councilor of the Democratic Party, who said: «We are witnessing the Government’s usual shell game. Meloni came to be photographed with her boots in the mud saying that refunds would be 100%. The Region had requested compensation for movable property in all locations because it makes no sense to say “we will compensate all damages” if compensation is not provided for the houses where the mud entered and where families had to throw away refrigerators, kitchens, wardrobes. This is the result of one politics that promises everything to everyone and doesn’t keep its word. The money isn’t there and won’t be there for the people. Furthermore, also for other reimbursements i mechanisms are excessively cumbersome and this means that tired citizens no longer submit applications.”
In any case, it should be underlined that the Region has already taken action to assist families in the purchase of goods such as furniture and appliances by allocating 100 million euros. To these resources are added the proceeds from the fundraising activated by the Region last May: 27 million euros they will be used to provide compensation to those who have suffered damage to their vehicles, 5 million will be allocated to Municipalities to support the most vulnerable, and a further 15 million euros for businesses and families for the creation of protection systems such as bulkheads and barriers .
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