It was a nightmarish night between Sunday and yesterday in the Canneto hamlet where the wind and the stormy sea reigned supreme, keeping the inhabitants apprehensive and recalling the memory of the older ones of the terrible storm of the 21st January 1981 which caused very significant damage and the collapse of structures and homes located near Marina Garibaldi.
The waves, overcoming the protective wall, invaded the entire seafront from Unci to Calandramaking it impassable, as it is “hostage”, in all its width, of brackish water, sand and debris. In some places, the longest waves penetrated the buildings on the ground floor, fortunately causing only minor damage. However, the damage caused to the recently built wall which separates the beach from the pavement and the main road was significant: large sections were literally knocked down onto the pavement and road. The asphalt was also partially torn up in the Calandra area, and further damage was recorded in the small playground in the hamlet.
Now the sea has calmed down but the image that appeared to the citizens yesterday morning was that of a village on its knees, with considerable damage and with a whole series of critical issues to be addressed for a minimal return to normality. The seafront is impassable, where, pending the definitive one, an immediate intervention has been arranged. Traffic was “diverted” for several hours onto Via Cesare Battisti, where, with many difficulties, also due to residents’ parked cars, the alternating one-way system was established. Other damage caused by the sea waves was also recorded in the port structure of Filicudiwhere the fenders that allow hydrofoils to land were torn away and a large part of the pavement was unhinged by the waves. At the moment, fast vehicles operate in the Pecorini airport.
Once again, the small hamlet of Ginostra, on the island of Stromboli, is on its kneesremained without electricity until yesterday afternoon, for over 12 hours. The blackout was apparently caused by the rain which, falling during the night, infiltrated a point of the distribution network, precariously placed after the flood last October and which, every time it rains, goes haywire. The restoration of the supply occurred thanks to the intervention of three technicians, who arrived by dinghy from Stromboli. The people of Ginostra, in a note signed by Gianluca Giuffrè, coordinator of the “Per Ginostra” committee, ask the mayor and the prefect to intervene quickly to Enel to eliminate this precarious situation, which manifests itself with every rain, through a definitive intervention that secures the critical points in which the cables are exposed and flying, as well as dangerous for the safety of passers-by. Finally, yesterday afternoon, the maritime connections by hydrofoil with Ginostra resumed, which had been interrupted for a few days due to adverse weather conditions which did not allow the line vehicles to approach. In the small hamlet, during the winter, the landing place is often unusable and it would be necessary to intervene with improvement works on the structure to guarantee greater functionality for the purposes of territorial continuity. Furthermore, the landing is also a valuable escape route in the event of eruptive events on Stromboli requiring prompt evacuation. In recent days, residents have urged those responsible to restore the wave wall at the head of the ship pier which was destroyed in the last storm in December and to provide for the maintenance of the iron jetty for the hydrofoils.
