2023-05-13 06:45:11
Landslides and mudslides following violent storms in South Tyrol. A rock weighing several tons crashes into a kindergarten.
Bozen/Niedervintl – It might have ended in a catastrophe. After heavy rains in Italy, a rock weighing two tons came loose in the South Tyrolean town of Niedervintl (Pustertal). He crashed into the wall of a day care center, which opened up a little later.
When the educators wanted to open the kindergarten at 8 a.m., they were terrified: a huge boulder had fallen on the hillside of the day-care center. It first struck a corner of the wall and then hit a second piece of wall, leaving a hole in the wall and smashing the floor slabs in the garden.
Devastating storms in Italy cause a landslide in South Tyrol: Rock thunders on the terrace of the kindergarten
According to the deputy fire brigade commander Andreas Seeber, the approximately two cubic meter gneiss chunk had come loose from a rock face 40 meters above. “It’s a very steep slope, the rock rolled and slid down the slope, tumbled twice and felled a 10-inch tree before it hit the house,” the firefighter told our editorial team. Seeber is certain: “The tree had slowed down the rock, otherwise it would have hit the house with full force.”
The timing was also good: Thursday morning throughout the state of South Tyrol, there were reports like: “7:30 a.m. a rock fall near Pontives at kilometer 10 on the road between Chiusa and Pontives”. The fire brigades might hardly keep up with the clearing and securing work.
The South Tyroleans, like all Italians, have waited a long time for rain, now the water knows no stopping. “The rain was urgently needed,” emphasizes the director of the South Tyrolean agency for civil protection, Klaus Unterweger, “but the terrain is now reacting accordingly, with minor events occurring but no major damage.”
Civil protection: hydrogeological phenomenon – dry soil does not absorb water masses in South Tyrol
What happens is a hydrogeological phenomenon: “When the soil is saturated and the terrain slopes accordingly, geomorphological processes are set in motion, which is why landslides, rockfalls and mudslides may occur.” The soil usually takes longer to react when it was dry longer due to the previous lack of precipitation.
On Facebook, many citizens cannot believe the happiness of the children and their educators: “OmG, all the guardian angels helped zamg, as a thank you I am sure many Liachtal will be lit and thanked in prayer,” says a user. Another writes: “You don’t even want to think regarding what might have happened there. The parents of the kindergarten children will also be in shock, like everyone who was deployed.”
Due to the extreme storms in Italy, a bridge also collapsed – this is shown in a video.
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