Italy battered again by bad pre-winter weather
By Web Editor. Filed under Current Affairs, News from Italyon December 5th, 2005
(ANSA) - Italy this weekend found itself in the grips of another pre-winter storm which drenched much of the peninsula and dumped snow even at lower altitudes.
Motorway and road traffic suffered the most but the snow also forced the closing down of the airport in Bolzano, while high seas interrupted ferry traffic in the Bay of Naples.
Heavy snow brought down powers lines in and around Milan with repercussions on public transport and rail service.
Thousands of motorists were trapped for hours along the Savona-Turin motorway while in the Alps the heavy snow fall was welcomed by skiers who found almost all lifts open.
Rome was the stage for violent thunderstorms and heavy rain which only added more water to the already swelled Tiber River, which has been running at near 20-year highs.
High tide water in Venice hit 132cm Saturday morning with 70% of the historic center flooded.
Conditions should improve somewhat on Sunday in many parts of Italy only to worsen again next week.
What was left out of this little state run news piece? The controversy to as why there were such hazardous road conditions to begin with that truck and cars got stranded in the first place. Yes, the weather was to blame and is uncontrollable, but why was the autostada impassable at 10 am long after the snow stopped falling, yet, all the secondary roads off of the autostada were clear and moving? I say this as an eye witness. I was there stuck in the mess. As soon as our bus of sommeliers exited the toll entrance from the autostada, the roads were good condition to drive on, while the highway we were on, was a mess. Let me remind you that we PAY tolls for the privilege to use the autostrada and the secondary roads are paid for by taxes? Hmmm.
The papers this morning were laying play blame everywhere except on those who were responsible. It was the truck drivers for not having chains (more new unneccessary laws that were passed last year), cars for daring to be on the road with improper tires/chains (and how exactly are we to put on chains during a snow storm on the highway?) and even the old model cars that dared to be on the road!! etc... Not a word about the obvious: Where were the snow plows or the salters in the first place? I sat on the bus on this autostrade mentioned above for 2 hours at 10 am Saturday morning. The autostrada from Liguria to Piemonte was clear, and there was plenty of snow to be seen and even snow plows doing their job. Meanwhile, as we sat on the bus crawling through this mess, I did not see one snow plow pass us in either direction! And the opposite side of the autostrade had been closed to traffic!
In my opinion, the blame lays on whatever authority is responsible for maintaining the autostrade and had to clear that snow off the highway. Punto Basta. It snows in Piemonte, often, and the authorities should be prepared to clean it and to take responsiblity for when things go wrong. If the secondary roads can be clear, there is no excuse for the dangerous mess that was on the autostade this weekend. Afterall, it is a major traffic artery!!!
Krista
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