Following the adverse weather conditions, for 19, 20 and 21 January Mayor Cataldo Librandi established a ban on vehicular and pedestrian transit along the entire Kennedy seafront in the Torretta hamlet, up to Mortilletto, with the exception of residents, limited to strictly necessary movements, and ordered the closure of all commercial activities on the seafront, of the villas and municipal parks and of the cycle path. All private and public sports facilities are also closed. The measure became necessary following the latest storm surges, which continue to engulf stretches of coast seriously threatening the seafront. In recent days, the municipality has adopted buffer solutions to deal with the emergency due to the strong coastal erosion and arranged urgent works in the points where there was the greatest “undermining of the coastal stretch which has caused critical issues for public and private safety and for the works and infrastructures present”.
The area of the S. Francesco villa, near Frank’s Bar, and the central area near the Serenella lido are affected by the measure. The current works have involved the repositioning of breakwater boulders to limit “settlements and collapses of the paving of the sea-side walkway, detachment of portions of the screed, possible exposure of artefacts and pipelines present underground” we read in the ordinance relating to the works. A necessary solution while awaiting definitive structural interventions that the municipality has requested and has been financed by the Calabria Region since 2014, of which the works were contracted out and never started. Only recently have technicians been appointed to carry out surveys and allow them to begin. The serious “meteomarine” events have occupied the various municipal administrations over time, which have been concerned with finding more lasting solutions such as those adopted in the Prickly Pear area in 2007, where the nourishment of the beach has led to the presence today of a large beach. The damage and subsidence, not only in the central part, have led in recent years to the demolition of beaches and seaside facilities for safety reasons, impacting the economy which in the summer is based on tourism.
In the photo, last year’s storm in Torretta