The Ginostra emergency, following the violent storm on Saturday morning which transported stones, sand and mud throughout the hamlet, cannot be tackled by the municipal operational machine alone, which is already quite asphyxiated in itself. The mayor of Lipari, Riccardo Gullo, is aware of this and, in addition to having requested the Region and the Department of Civil Protectionthe activation of the procedure for the evaluation of the recognition of the state of emergency, also prompted the non-postponable intervention of the Civil Engineers, to safeguard public and private safety, for the removal of debris in public areas both in Ginostra and in the town of Stromboli.
Gullo highlighted that what happened in Ginostra «is a direct consequence of the hydrogeological instability that was triggered in the hamlet of Ginostra starting from the fire of 3 July 2019, and worsened with the latest volcanic emergency which recorded the pouring of a blanket of ash that flows downstream during heavy rains”. In support of the request for intervention, the mayor highlighted the seriousness of the eventwith extensive damage to the road system, compromised due to the accumulation of flood debris which also poured into the historic “Pertuso” port, to homes and infrastructure. As regards the town of Stromboli, he underlined how Saturday’s flood event also involved some parts of that territory already affected by the flood of 12 August 2022, which led to its being placed under commissionership.
In the request for the recognition of the state of emergency for Ginostra it was pointed out that in the hamlet «Special forms are necessary for emergency management in order to implement all measures to ensure public safety and risk mitigation. Among the priority interventions considered urgent are: the restoration of the road system which, as is known, for the hamlet coincides with the escape routes in the event of a volcanic emergency, whose alert level is currently “yellow” the restoration of the regulation of the waters upstream of the town; the safety of torrential shafts; the installation of specific selective and containment barriers for the areas at greatest risk; the study, design and implementation of safety works to deal with similar phenomena in the event of persistent rain”. For these priority interventions, as can be seen from the request forwarded to the Region and Civil Protection, a total cost of 7 million euros is estimated including the costs for the very first restoration interventions. Meanwhile, yesterday, in Ginostra, a technician from the municipal civil protection landed for an initial inspection and was able to understand the post-storm situation. Also yesterday, taking advantage of a marked improvement in the weather conditions, the citizens of the Strombola village got to work, both to quantify the damage suffered and to free and clean the homes, in particular the appurtenances, from stones, sand and mud, before it solidifies. The instability of some parts of the ridge above the highest part of the town center is worrying.
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