I believe that certain things can never be forgotten. It had been raining heavily for days and I live in the Schiavonia area, not far from the river in an apartment building, right on the ground floor. I remember that I often went out with my trusty Balto for a walk despite the rain to monitor the river in the area behind the Sushi restaurant in Viale Salinatore where an access leads to the Anzani riverside which we use to get to the walkway towards the Schiavonia bridge. At 4pm I remember that everything was already flooded with water and no longer passable. My partner who lives in the countryside of San Leonardo had called me that she was coming to bring me her little dog because the ditches there no longer handled the rain and the countryside was flooding.
Flood one year later, all the testimonies
In the meantime I heard the mayor’s video message and realized that the situation was getting worse. I notified work to say that I wouldn’t be going (I was working the night shift) and when my partner arrived I took a backpack, threw in some clothes quickly and we left. The bridge in the Ronco industrial area was already at its limit. We went to my partner’s house and the streets there were flooded but still visible because they were transparent, without mud. Once we reached her house, I spent the night there, sending messages to my relatives to reassure them and keeping us informed of everything that happened.
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I didn’t sleep much that night. Photos, videos, video messages, confusing news. Then towards morning silence from my neighbors. At first light we moved. My condominium was safe but a hundred meters from me there were people who had everything. I remember that I didn’t feel like staying and picked up some things to return to San Leonardo. The entire neighborhood had been without electricity for hours and none of my neighbors had any way of communicating. The view of the multitude of water from the Ronco bridge on the Via Emilia towards Forlimpopoli was impressive: an authentic lake.
I was lucky compared to many, but the fear of those moments and everything that followed in the following days I will never be able to forget.
Andrea Monari
FLOOD, LEST WE FORGET
On May 16, 2023, Romagna found itself in the drama of the flood within a few hours. ForlìToday collects and publishes readers’ memories and testimonies about what happened in those days. The aim is to build and keep alive the collective memory of those facts.
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