Eighteen years have passedbut they still remain in the eyes of those who lived that tragic summer morning the water and mud came down with immense force from the hill, the overflowing streams, the flooding of the canals already blocked by invade with all their violence the fragile strip of coastal land crashing down on roads and houses, countryside and businesses, cultural sites and tourist facilities. Bivona doesn’t want to forget that datewith a dutiful remembrance of those who mobilized to provide assistance: organizations, institutions, military, firefighters, civil defense, local and national companies who sent aid of all kinds, gestures of admirable solidarity by associations and ordinary citizens and the participation of many young people who came from all over the region and spared no effort in shoveling water and mud for days. A community that believes it is necessary to stop for a moment to also remember the young lives lost on that tragic day by planning, for 7 pm on this 3 July 2024, a mass which will be celebrated at the parish church of San Giuseppe Lavoratore. The flood left four victims, including a 15-month-old baby.
On the occasion of the anniversary, the Pro Loco of Vibo Marina intended to commemorate the victims and remember the wounds still open, among the people and in the environment, which are waiting to be healed. «Perhaps we were unprepared – it is observed – many things had been overlookedincluding the priority care for the environment; it was not believed that climate change with its extreme winds could also affect our community. But that tragedy – wonders the Pro Loco – did it change anything? The hill and the coastal strip Unfortunately, they remain in a situation of hydrogeological risk; what was due to secure the territory has not been done. Unfortunately, they have been lost significant funding regional and the necessary works have not been completed: above all, the bottlenecks of the ditches-canals that pass under the railway and the roads in Vibo Marina, Bivona, Porto Salvo remain; the containment basin and the interventions for the regulation of rainwater from the hill to the sea have not been carried out».
Taking note of what should have been done and has not been done, the association consequently addresses, an invitation to the new municipal administration so that it can take action to “address as a matter of priority, in addition to the missing public services, also securing the coastal territoryas already in its program, doing restart the necessary work to overcome the critical issues as soon as possible laid bare by the 2006 flood, working actively to recover regional funding, old and new and, if deemed appropriate, shedding light on the reasons for so many delays.”
In conclusion, the Pro Loco highlights how its intention to build a stele in a significant place “together with those who believe in the importance of not forgetting the past, to understand today, to build tomorrow with commitment.”
