STAZEMA – At 1.45pm, the time of the tragedy, the representatives of the administrations of Stazzema, Seravezza, Pietrasanta, Forte Marmi and the province of Lucca paid their homage to all the victims of the flood
It happened 28 years ago, on 19 June 1996: an avalanche of water and mud hit the Upper Versilia and Garfagnana. The towns of Cardoso and Fornovolasco were swept away, fifteen people were killed, damage amounted to hundreds and hundreds of millions of euros and many people were forced to leave their homes. The entire community was marked by inestimable losses. Rescuers worked tirelessly for weeks, digging through the rubble and bringing aid to the survivors. Every year, on 19 June, Cardoso and the entire Alta Versilia valley remember the victims of the flood with a series of commemorative events. At 1.45pm, the time of the tragedy, representatives of the administrations of Stazzema, Seravezza, Pietrasanta, Foprte Marmi and the province of Lucca paid their homage to all the Cardoso victims. The 1996 flood left an important legacy: the awareness of the vulnerability of the territory and the need for careful and responsible management of the environment. In the following years, important progress was made in the prevention of hydrogeological risks, thanks to greater attention to land maintenance and the adoption of advanced technologies for monitoring weather and soil conditions. A terrible tragedy, but also the beginning of a story of redemption, of an original path of intervention and reconstruction which was a true “Versilia model” as Alessandrini recalled. And it is on this experience, of great value also for the future of civil protection in Italy, that today’s conference “”For a safe territory, initiatives and proposals” is based
