Joe Lowry and Giovanni Zambello
Two European Red Cross societies sprang into action this week when sudden disasters struck Serbia and northern Italy. An earthquake jolted central Serbia in the early hours of 3 November, killing an elderly couple in the town of Kraljevo and injuring 100 people. Meanwhile, Italian Red Cross are playing a key role in the relief effort after floods paralysed the north-eastern Italy.
The Serbian quake, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, was felt strongly in the capital Belgrade, 100 kilometres away. Red Cross of Serbia teams rushed to the scene to assist the local Red Cross branch which is taking part in the emergency operations. They report that the streets of Kraljevo, the epicentre of the quake, are strewn with bricks and glass, and at least 20 smaller aftershocks have been felt.
Slobodanka Curic, Europe Zone disaster management coordinator, is in constant communication with the Kraljevo Red Cross branch and reports that “the earthquake caused a great deal of damage in the town and surrounding villages. Some parts of the city still lack electricity and water, and in some parts telephone communications are cut. Schools and kindergartens are closed. The earthquake significantly damaged the hospital where a pipe broke. Water spilled into the maternity ward, so babies have been evacuated to other facilities.”
The first quick estimations suggest that more than 1 million euros worth of damage has been caused, and 100 houses made uninhabitable. Two nearby villages also suffered severe damage, with up to 70 per cent of buildings in Gridca and Vitanovac affected.
“The biggest need now is drinking water,” according to Slobodanka Curic. “Local water sources have been polluted. Bottled water is coming from Coca Cola, while the Red Cross branch in Novi Sad, North of Kraljevo is sending ten tonnes of food. Central headquarters in Belgrade has 15,000 tins of meat already on the road. The first distributions should begin Wednesday evening, including water purification tablets, bedding and blankets for people that are sheltering with families and neighbours.”
For its part, Italian Red Cross is taking part in a massive operation to assist thousands of evacuees who were forced out of their homes when torrential rains caused the Alpone, Bacchiglione and Frassine rivers to flood, affecting the entire northeast of the country including the cities of Verona, Vicenza, Padua and Treviso.
The Red Cross volunteers, coordinated by the Italian Red Cross national operations room, based in Legnano, north-west of Lombardy, are managing a shelter in Verona for some 400 people, currently hosting the most vulnerable people in the area, a centre in Vicenza and a field kitchen near Mantua.
“The emergency phase is now over. The next phase is cleaning up once the water has receded from the flooded areas,” says Roberto Antonini, Italian Red Cross national delegate for emergency activities, who is coordinating the operation.
In Verona, the Alpone River burst its banks, affecting some 2,500 people. Twenty volunteers are taking care of the evacuees, mostly migrants, and another 100 evacuees are expected to arrive in the coming hours. Beds were set up in Vicenza - where 1,500 people have been moved to the centre of Caldogno - while two ambulances, two advanced medical posts, psychosocial support teams and 80 Red Cross volunteers have been made available to assist the population.
The second phase of the emergency will involve emergency psychosocial support teams, which have already been activated in Verona and Vicenza with 14 people from all the Veneto region, says Roberto Baldessarelli, Coordinator of the Red Cross Emergency Intervention Centre of Verona. “Only after all the water drains away will it be possible to assess the extent of damages. One of the biggest threats is the possibility that oil may leak from tanks or pipes and mix with water, increasing damage to walls and infrastructure”.
Emergency activities are also being carried out in other regions, with 15 Red Cross volunteers currently supporting the Fire Brigade near La Spezia, and 33 others managing a shelter in Massa Carrara, Tuscany.