Besides admiring its buildings, churches and panoramic views, we were struck by one episode in Modica’s history.
It was September 1902. At the end of a scorching summer came the rainy season, with vehemence, a bit like today, when prolonged drought periods are interrupted by storms and showers.
During the course of one day and the following night fell half of the rain that normally falls in one year.
See the fields swelling. Water seething in the river beds. Hollow ways with roars in the dark.
In the night of the 26th of September the Pozzo dei Pruni stream turned into a 10 m high flood wave that swept houses and buildings, filled the church of Saint Mary of Bethlehem and killed more than a hundred people in less than half an hour. Bodies were found as far as Scicli, 10 miles away.
The news of the flood traveled far. Funds and humanitarian aids were sent from everywhere in Italy and abroad to rebuild the city.
Italy is a country with fairly high hydrogeological instability. Every decade there’s a flood that takes away more lives than necessary.
We tend to unite better in the wake of tragedies. Why don’t we unite in thinking about prevention?
Comments