“The fury of the Tanaro also took two hundred coffins from the cemetery”

“The biggest drama for me was looking into the eyes of the Garessini who saw the town being taken away. Women and men I met in these hours, who stopped crying and asked me for ‘help’ ”, says Ferruccio Fazio. Mayor of Garessio, former Minister of Health of the Berlusconi government and until a few months ago at the head of the Region’s working group against Covid.

Professor Fazio, worst of all, Covid, the floods of the past that never spared your country?
“Worse than Covid? I really don’t know. I know whoever was recovering from the damage of the lockdown has been put back on the ground, the basements are still flushing now.”

What is the situation this Saturday afternoon when we begin to count the damages?
“We are still without gas and they told us that maybe we would be until Tuesday. Isolated sections, all services skipped. We were hit by a water pump, a force of elements never seen before. Worse than 1994, much worse than 2016. They have Two secular trees have fallen in my garden, we have seen the coffins come out of the ground, I am not exaggerating when I say that the cemetery in the Trappa hamlet has been devastated. Now I have called the carabinieri to inform them that there are two hundred coffins missing. They fished in Bagnasco, some have not yet been identified. “

When did you realize that the situation was becoming dramatic?
“When the Nava bridge is at guard level, we know it is flooding. It was around seven in the afternoon. At midnight it was impressive.”

Mayor Fazio

He was scared?
“Not for me, but for the people of this country. Today President Cirio will be here. I already asked for the Odasso bridge to be removed immediately. It becomes a plug and it worries me. Because there is never so much water. Seen in early October, it usually happens in November. If we come back in two weeks, how do we get out? The institutions were very close to us, Councilor Gabusi came, Cirio is coming today, we called Borrelli, but they have to give us the money to tear down this bridge and build a new one as soon as possible. The financial coffers of a small town like Garesso simply cannot afford it. I have been mayor for a year and a half and this is one of the first requests I made. Covid has arrived but now it is essential to intervene ”.

Great damage to the country. Has anyone been injured?
“No, fortunately not. One of the first things I did was prepare an intervention plan with Civil Protection. All night they called the Garessini and also the rest of the inhabitants of the area. At night there was always someone awake who stayed for the country. “

Were you at Garessio in 2016?
“No, but it is my country. I was always informed of what was happening here.”

Do you want to go back to Milan?
“I’ve never made up my mind to stay here before.”