Rising Lake Levels Prompt Emergency Actions and Flooding in North Italy

The lake level continues to rise, and in Peschiera yesterday morning it was at 174 centimeters, just one centimeter away from flooding the squares of Desenzano and Lazise.

The Sarca river the other evening was carrying 163 cubic meters per second, while the Mincio was diverting 190: with the smaller tributaries, the net flow remains clearly positive.

Here, this is evident from the number of flooded cellars, practically all those along the San Giorgio-via Padova route. Rumors suggest that the fire brigade now refuse to intervene.

Fire Brigade Interventions

Nothing could be more misleading: in fact, 130 interventions have been carried out in Arco over four days, and an equal number in Riva.

The water pumps supplied to the teams are about ten per location and are all in operation constantly. The procedure followed to meet requests is now standard.

Each call is always followed by an inspection as quickly as possible. If emergency situations emerge, such as boilers needing to be kept away from the water or electrical panels requiring safety measures, the intervention follows, with notifications to AGS or Enel for their respective work.

The fire brigade empties cellars and garages in all cases where there is something to remove: cars, furnishings, furniture—all that could be damaged. But then their job ends there.

Problems and Limitations

Indeed, since the flooding is caused by the rising water table, as soon as they finish emptying, the water immediately comes back in, usually more quickly than before, because the small amount of mud and earth that acts as a sealant is washed away from the cracks between the gravelly deposits and the stones.

Furthermore, the continuous infiltration of water from outside can damage the structure of the house.

Therefore, once the emergency is resolved, the fire brigade no longer intervenes, because it is better that way. But there are always those who refuse to understand this reasoning.