Weeks
of record snowfalls and below-zero temperatures have wreaked havoc on Italy,
from north to south.
Florence
and the rest of Tuscany seemed to be in the eye of most of the storms in the
first two weeks of February, as Siberian winds brought meters of white powder
to areas such as Siena and the Val d’Orcia, where some 1,200 households went
without electricity for about a week, the Maremma and Pisa areas, where there
were a number of isolated towns, as well as the Lunigiana area and the Mugello.
Even
much of the province of Florence is blanketed in white, although the city has
managed to escape the snow so far. Florence did, however, suffer the sub-zero
temperatures and Arctic-like winds, with city fountains and sections of the
Arno freezing.
For
the rest of Italy, the weather has been disastrous. Record snowfalls and
blizzards in the regions of Emilia Romagna, Marche and Abruzzo have left a
large number of small towns completely cut off: roads blocked and homes without
electricity. Rome was hit twice with record snowfalls, something that had not
occurred there for 30 years.
The
wave of extreme cold and snow that gripped Italy in early February is known to
have claimed at least 57 lives, many among them homeless and elderly persons.
Italy’s
big freeze also meant big losses. Farmers association Coldiretti said that the
ten days of cold temperatures cost the agricultural sector some 1.5 billion
euro; meanwhile figures from the Italian Confederation of Farmers estimated
damage of more than 350 million euro in the loss of fresh fruits, vegetables,
milk and its byproducts; the deaths of animals and fish; and frozen
agricultural fields.
Italian
households spent 30 percent more on home heating in the two-week period, and
the price of fresh fruit and vegetables at markets and supermarkets increased
by 200 percent in some areas, the media reported. The cold and ice also pushed
businesses to consume more energy, creating an energy crisis across the country
that was soon resolved by a measure that forced businesses to stop production
during the freeze. Among the factories
to suspend operations in Tuscany were paper-producers in Lucca and
Piaggio in Pontedera. Also, six Serie A soccer games were called off due to
excessive snow or ice.
With
the extreme weather conditions easing both on the mainland and in the
Tyrrhenian sea, salvage crews at Giglio Island resumed operations at the
capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner. On February 12, officials started the
delicate operation of defuelling, called off previously for rough waters. (For
a survivor’s account of the Costa Concordia tragedy, flip to the featues
section.)
