province of Aquila hit by earthquake

[myabruzzohome]

How generous of you Russ.

[AllanMason]

Originally Posted by Vigneverde

I have an American client who is very upset because she cannot reach her family they live in Tagliacozzo does anyone know if this place is affected.

From what I see on GoogleEarth, Tagliacozzo is about 40 km Southwest from the epicentre of this morning's big earthquake. Our place is closer, at about 30 km East of it.

Here, we had 30 seconds or so of very unpleasant shaking that I don't want to experience again any time soon. The crockery and glasses in the kitchen were clattering away merrily as we staggered through heading for our daughter's bedroom and the damper in the wood-fired stove was clanging like a bell while the water in its boiler sloshed about very noisily. However, the only noticeable effects of the shaking were that an electric whisk sitting on a shelf fell over and there are some new cracks around the recently-installed stove, since it seems that it and the surround were not actually attached to the house, but are only sitting on the floor.

There's been no damage whatsoever to the structure of our farmhouse which is very old with the traditional metre-thick walls made of rocks stuck together with who-knows-what. However, the place did have a new roof installed a few years back and, as is normal, had the usual seismic ring (or whatever it's called) put in at the same time.

Earthquakes are notoriously capricious in what buildings they damage and to what degree, but I think your client can be reasonably certain that her relatives have probably not been directly affected. As others have said, there are problems with communications in the L'Aquila area, so this may be the reason for the lack of contact.

Al

[Vigneverde]

Thanks for this I will let thm know, glad to hear you are OK our house swayed but only for a few seconds, do you know if you can gain access to l'aquila because me and a few friends really want to try and help up there if we can get there.

[adriatica]

as regards access to L'Aquila the authorities have iterated and re iterated that this is a job for the professional trained rescue services and that they do not require any extra problems ...ie with private citizens turning up in cars...

volunteers from the protection civile are being moved in... but they are volunteers that have been trained in this sort of thing .. not earthquakes but emergencies...

they are basically from what i see evacuating the area to avoid further casualties... and also criminal activity..

they have blocked up to 4000 rooms on the coast and can block up to 10,000 but no one will be forced to leave

the pro loco organisations...the ones that handle all the festas we enjoy in the summer are also setting up filed kitchens and providing food... we were at a bakers this evening who had finished work at 2.00 am .. just about got to sleep when this all started and has baked 50 quintale of bread which has been taken over there and is now just about to start his normal baking...

its frustrating for those of us nearby that cannot be there to help... but there are already problems with organisation and too many people thrown at a situation like this will only add to the confusion .. the offer made by Russ is most probably the best way to help... this will be a long term problem for many... Italy has to say the least an abysmal record regarding the aftermath of serious incidents involving their populations... with scams being engineered by many public and private companies to help access emergencey funds which end up being cut into their own pockets with none of the rebuilding work done...

this is self evident in many of the past disasters here in Italy... the only places ever rebuilt quickly are the churches... whilst civilian populations still reside in portacabins... despite masses of emergencey funding arriving... but seemingly well not seemingly disappearing into the go between abyss

maybe a good place to help for now would be at those resorts on the coast where frightened and exhausted people are arriving

i think for specifics rather than look at the forum here a trip to your local comune or even bar will give you better info on what is happening and where they need help...

[Gala Placidia]

I have been listening to different international radio stations and watching both the Spanish and French TV news and there are some things that are puzzling me regarding this tragedy. From what I have heard, many European countries have offered to Italy their specially trained rescue teams, including dogs, to assist with the rescue of victims. Although it is not openly said, you get the impression that the Italian government is not taking advantage of these offers. I can fully understand that volunteers without the proper experience, no matter how big is their desire to help, can cause problems to rescue teams. But, why aren't they taking advantage of the professional help offered? Are any foreign teams currently working in the area? The Italian rescuers must be exhausted by now after so many hours of hard work and you need all the help you can get in order to rescue as many people as possible from those ruins. Every hour, every minute counts to be able to save lives.

[Vigneverde]

thanks for the post, some locals I know have gone up to help and are helping, one has just returned so although they are asking people to stay away they are accepting the help, I hope to go tomorrow and see. I understand that people may get in the way but I cant help thinking there could be 1 person saved if there was more help, I may be wrong, having said that it was good to see a report on the BBC saying that the effort was excellent and there are 5000 searches and modern equipment being used. I think it is a pat on the back for the rescue service's it is times like this when you see how good they are, 16 hour shifts cannot be easy, I only hope for more success.

[myabruzzohome]

It looks as if the situation in L'Aquila is so extreme that untrained and inexperienced people turning up could make matters worse.Plus consuming food / water etc needed for the rescue services etc.

If anyone is thinking of going then at least take a hard hat and dust mask.The various dusts re-leased from falling buildings could contain many small and dangerous particles from paint, asbestos and other chemicals that might cause a very severe reaction in some people with asthma etc.


Its only natural to feel that you want to help at a time like this but you'll only hinder rescue services if you get yourselves into a dangerous situation.

[DavidUno]

Maybe it would be a good idea to go to our local Protezione Civile offices. If they are sending a large amount of their trained volunteers, they may need numbers bolstering at a local level? Also some Comunes have a list of volunteers for emergency situations.

[adriatica]

at the moment they are saying here that every collapsed building has a rescue team assigned... you are right they must be exhausted but other teams are already arriving from all over Italy...

in a situation like this there are only so many people that can fit around an area... i believe specialist teams with those heat seeking or whatever capable ... location devices for finding bodies under debris have been accepted... however logistics suggest that they will be arriving during the next 24 hour period... it takes time to organise transport and translators...etc etc...

i don't think any aid has been turned away... but this all happened just over twelve long hours ago and now with a new night upon us it all becomes more difficult.. just watched a huge storm rage across the mountains and it looks like there is rain over the other side now...

its a grim night for all the survivors and rescue workers... as temps now in that area will be dropping close to zero ...

[Charles Phillips]

No - responding to both Gala and myabruzzohome on the subject of 'foreign' experts coming in. For sure, there are agencies particularly equipped to detect living beings under building rubble - and they are extremely diplomatic in offering their services. But - if the roads are destroyed - how are their Italian hosts going to deploy them? One unfortunate thing about this earthquake is that l'Aquila, the provincial capital, was badly damaged: unfortunately this means that outlying (more badly damaged) villages don't get a look in.

Looking back on this (from like the perspective of next week) it is pretty clear that if some truly expert agencies had been delegated to helicopter in rescue teams to reach communities cut off by collapsed roads, maybe a couple of lives could have been saved. That is the calculation - yes, it is brutal, but in a civil disaster these sort of calculations have to be made every thirty seconds.

It is galling to the foreign expert agencies who are on standby at Stanstead or wherever - and they are good people - but it has to be the call of the protezione civile to decide whether to use them. Otherwise all would be chaos. It's easy to say 'they asked them too late'....but just think about the logistics. Goodwill is wonderful, but it isn't always practical to take instant advantage of it.