Bad weather, violent storm over Crotone: flooded roads and people stuck in cars. “Our city is on its knees, stay at home”

“There is water everywhere, it is hard. Very hard, our city is on its knees“. So the mayor of Crotone, Vincenzo Voce, commented on the inconvenience and damage caused by beyond 300mm of rain that in just an hour they fell on the Calabrian city triggering thebad weather emergency throughout the province. Fire fighters e Civil protection have been mobilized since the early hours of the morning with hundreds of interventions for inconvenience, flooding and to free some remaining people stuck in their cars. A storm so violent that it reminded the citizens the flood of 1996 which caused six victims and millions of euros in damage. At the moment there are no injuries but the weather situation in these hours is destined to worsen so the invitation to all citizens of to stay at home for safety reasons but also in order not to hinder the work of the rescue teams who are all involved in the area. Observed special the Esaro river. At present the level of the watercourse has not reached the maximum threshold and is under control. At the moment, however, there are no missing.

Both the inhabited center of the city, with the main roads (via Mario Nicoletta, via Crea, via XXV aprile), and the suburbs of Tufolo, Farina, Trafinello, Margherita. Underground invaded by the water that came with violence from the canals that were supposed to drain the rains but already swollen by the copious rain that fell during the night. The streets of some areas of the city, which are located below sea level, such as the Marinella district, have become rivers of water, mud and debris that have literally submerged all parked cars and flooded garages and warehouses. A situation that, at the moment, has also called the match of A league between the home team and the Lazio scheduled for the afternoon: at 10.30 a meeting began in the Prefecture to make a final decision.

Problems also in the province. To Capo Rizzuto Island a chasm has reopened in Piazza Aldo Moro. Difficulty also in traveling along state road 106. Some traffic police officers rescued people stuck in the car on the state road at Strongoli. The mayor of Crotone has brought together the municipal civil protection operations center in permanent session, which is monitoring the situation in constant contact with the Prefecture, Civil Protection and Fire Brigade. In the meantime, the Municipality has issued a statement inviting people not to leave the house: “Weather alert. Avoid going out for your safety. Do not obstruct the operations of emergency vehicles. The weather situation in the next few hours is destined to get worse ”.

“There is water everywhere, it is hard. Very tough, our city is on its knees. But the positive news is there: we have had no reports of missing people. A real fortune – said Voce – The damage to the city is truly enormous, I am in constant contact with the emergency services, the prefecture, Civil Protection, Guardia di Finanza and Anas to monitor a critical situation that can only get worse in the next few hours since, in the afternoon, it is another violent storm is expected. Whole neighborhoods are literally flooded, we need help ”. The mayor then wanted to thank the Region that “is moving en masse to support us, to intervene, but in this situation it is not easy. Over 110 mm of water fell in the morning, over 211 in the night. We are forced to declare a state of natural disaster. We hope for immediate support from the state ”.

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