Alpini Provide Hope and Aid During Po River Flood Recovery

Just returned from Ivrea, the men of the Civil Protection Section for the Lower Lake of the Associazione Nazionale Alpini have shared their stories, and in their eyes and words, there’s both the despair they’ve encountered and the hope they’ve managed to convey to the Piedmontese populations affected by the Po River’s overflow.

A ten-day-old girl transported to dry land alongside her young, terrified mother; elderly residents persuaded with difficulty to leave their homes, and when that wasn’t possible, supported by periodic trips to deliver even just a sandwich or warm milk to drink. Life shifting its values in an instant, with the simplest and genuinely essential things becoming the most important again.

The emotions and stories of the Alpini

“These are just some of the many episodes that leave a mark and that you’ll never forget for your entire life,” recounts Enrico Fasoli, responsible for the group of eight men from the lower lake sent alongside colleagues from Verona.

“We were the first to arrive, and moreover, not from home but from Pol, a hamlet of Pastrengo, where we had been engaged since Friday morning of last week: the mayor had alerted us because the Adige had overflowed, and we were working to contain and free the houses from water; we stayed on site until Sunday for monitoring, and around 4:30 PM, an alarm from Piedmont prompted us to leave immediately.” Thirty-one men, actually Alpini, and that makes a big difference.