• by IPS Correspondents (rome)
• Friday, November 11, 1994
• Inter Press Service

ROME, Nov 11 (IPS) - The Italian people are showing strong support and solidarity for victims of the worst natural disaster to affect the northern part of the nation in the last 80 years.

The most recent Civil Defence bulletin stated that the torrential storms have already left 64 dead, 80 missing, 85 injured, and 10,308 homeless, with more bad weather predicted. Some 80,000 jobs have been lost, mostly in the three most prosperous northern regions of Lombardy, Piamonte and Liguria.

Totocalcio, the Italian football lottery, has offered this week's earnings to the flood relief fund. The sum normally amounts to about 15 million dollars and it is expected that betting will greatly increase as the money is to go to the victims.

Many theatre companies are also donating this weekend's box office takings to the fund, while labour unions have asked workers to donate an hour's wages.

In addition, the three major labour unions and the Italian Confederation of Industries jointly proposed a reconstruction fund for the 40,000 square kilometres of storm ravaged areas in the north of the country.

The first estimates from environmental agencies set flood damages at over 15 billion dollars. The government has pledged two billion dollars in emergency aid and is considering further measures.

The sub-secretary responsible for Civil Defence, Ombretta Fumagalli, rejected criticisms from Parliament that the hurricane warnings were issued too late, stating that even the meteorological services had only 48 hours notice before the storms hit.

However, Fumagalli admitted that there was no emergency warning system in place to notify the public of the impending storm, and suggested that one be established. (IPS/END/tra-so/jp/ego/ot/sm/js/94)

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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