Six years ago, the Vaia storm caused widespread damage in the area. Below, we share the thoughts and memories of the President of the Province of Belluno, Roberto Padrin.
“Hard times create strong human beings,” it is said. But they also create stronger territories and more cohesive communities. We saw and experienced this during the difficult days of the Vaia storm. Days of fear, of disasters that left deep scars. Days of blackouts and blocked roads, swollen rivers, and forests cut down as if they were matchsticks. We witnessed and lived through the following months of reconstruction and rebirth, of commitment, of construction sites, and of hard work.
Six years ago, at this very time, we had to make the hardest and most serious decisions in the recent history of Belluno. Complete closures of schools and factories, something that had never happened before. But those decisions, the result of a process that started with weather forecasts and reached the Prefecture and individual mayors, served to save lives.
I remember those frantic hours in the CCS operations room. I remember the phone calls, the reports of damage increasing by the minute, the wait for weather updates. I remember the tense faces in front of computers, the long hours of anxiety. I remember the tears of tension, the physical and emotional strain, someone bringing food to the technicians working tirelessly through the nights and days. I remember that everyone did their duty, feeling part of a complex team and helping their neighbor to "get through" the most difficult and troubled night ever. And this is the most important memory: a system that worked because it was a chain, where each link was connected to the others, and every gear turned perfectly.
And so, six years later, we can view the Vaia storm with more detachment and therefore with greater depth of analysis. We can say—without exaggeration—that what happened at the end of October 2018 was a tremendous opportunity. An opportunity to rethink our territory and the relationship between humans and the surrounding environment. An opportunity for great cohesion, for a fresh start, and for work. Together, with the goal of restoring a wounded land. An opportunity to understand once again how important teamwork is.
Without Vaia, perhaps we would not have intervened so promptly in many areas of our territory that deserved care and attention. It is true that it was necessary to rebuild and heal the wounds. But it is also true that, thanks to the regional government’s commissioner structure and those who contributed, decisive works were carried out to prevent further damage; in addition, interventions were put in place to mitigate the risk of landslides and flooding. Vaia was the collapse of a house in Ponte Mas, but also the reconstruction of the regional road in Candaten, to mention two symbolic cases. It was the electric and water blackout in high Agordino, but also the solidarity of those who brought food and water to the most isolated hamlets in the days immediately following the disaster. It was the forest of Val Visdende razed to the ground, but also the replanting of thousands of trees. It was the destruction of the Serrai di Sottoguda, but also the rebirth, six years later, of one of the most iconic and picturesque sites in the Belluno Dolomites.
In short, Vaia has been and continues to be an example of hard times, but it has generated stronger people in Belluno, capable of looking to the future with greater awareness. Awareness of how damaging an extreme weather event can be, but also of how much good can come from working together with a single goal.