More than 150 millimeters of precipitation since early morning. The mayor of Celle: “Schools keep children on the first floor, the situation is serious”
Bad weather has once again hit northern Italy hard, with peaks of 200 to 300 millimeters over the past 24 hours. Today, Wednesday October 16, Liguria was particularly affected, with numerous floods recorded in the Savonese region. The Ligurian regional environmental protection agency (Arpal) has already issued an orange weather alert for tomorrow, which has prompted many municipalities in the region to close schools. In Celle Ligure and Calice Ligure, the administration asked all schools to gather students on the first floor of the structures “until further notice”. In the meantime, the A10 Genoa-Ventimiglia motorway has been reopened in the section between Varazze and Arenzano towards Genoa due to numerous episodes of roadway flooding.
The situation in the Savon region
The flooding of many rivers in the area blocked the A10, recently reopened but kept under close surveillance, for several kilometers. There are at least 10 kilometers of queues. Rail traffic was temporarily suspended between Loano and Pietra Ligure due to the risk of flooding from the Nimbalto stream. The Litimbro torrent is also in flood. In the province of Savona, hit by very intense rains in recent hours, the Bormida river overflowed in the towns of Ferrania, Altare and Cairo Montenotte.
At the same time, the situation is also critical in the municipalities of Calice Ligure and Celle Ligure. Mayor Marco Beltrame appealed to all schools to “keep children on the first floor until further notice”. “Let’s pretend we’re on red alert,” the mayor said. “The situation is quite serious: the Ghiare torrent is on pre-alert and a major landslide has occurred on the Aurelia in Celle”
Schools closed
And with the first floods, the first landslides also began. A fall of earth and rocks blocked provincial highway 29. What was indicated as a yellow alert today will be an orange hydrological alert for thunderstorms tomorrow. This is why many municipalities, “in order to reduce the risk for students during the alert”, have decreed the suspension of face-to-face classes in all high schools for tomorrow. Measure adopted – signed by provincial president Pierluigi Peracchini – also throughout the territory of La Spezia.
