Devistation in the Cinque Terre

Today I am remembering my time in the Cinque Terre in September of  this year.  The town where I stayed is one of the worst hit by the flooding.  Vernazza is under 10 feet of mud and debris.  It is hardly recognizable and they have no idea yet of the number dead and missing.  The town was virtually cut off from the rest of the world, roads washed out, telephone and hydro lines down, no gas, fresh water, or oiutside help.
The town sits along steep hills leading down to the sea and with the heavy rains earlier this week much of the steep slopes were washed away causing a sea of mud and debris to literaly bulldoze all in its way along its path to the sea. Hiking trails are gone, first floor shops along the main street are completely buried in mud.  People and even some houses were swept away. People trapped in the Blue Marlin are grateful to the propieter who was able to knock a hole in a wall so that people could crawl up to the second story; which saved their lives.


It is hard to beleve that this pretty little village may never be the same again.  I treasure my painting of the town now more than ever.  I am particularly pleased that I spent an entire day there, sitting along the sea wall, sketching the town.  I have a new reason to finish that sketch now.

Today rescue teams have finally arrived to begin the massive job of evacuation and clean up.  Heavy machinery had to be brought in on a barge pulled by many tug boats.  The bulldozers have partially cleared a path down the main street but the piles of debris on either side of the path are metres high.  This is allowing rescue teams to evacuate any survivors they manage to find.  Pictures of the inside of the big church in town show several feet of thick mud covering the marble floors and the wooden pews all pushed by the mud to the front of the church as if they were matchsticks.

I think of the 100 steps we had to climb to reach our hotel rooms and doubt they even exist now.  The room I stayed in was a semi basement and I'm sure it must be under water or a sea of mud.  It is a good thing that almost all of the buildings in town are made of stone as nothing else would stand the pressure of so much mud pushing against it.

The Italian people  are no strangers to hardship.  They have remarkable resiliance and a very strong  joie de vive.  Still, it will take much time and perseverance to recover from this devistation....and it won't be cheap either.  At a time when Italy, like other countries in the European Union, is suffering financially, it is not likely that the government will be in a position to provide aid in the clean up or rebuilding.  They will have to rely on the public to contribute what they can.  Lets hope it will be enough to restore all that has been lost.

My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the devistation, may God give you the strength you need to get through this trying time.

D