The only way to reach Cogne is to get on a helicopter, or face hours of walking through the Alpine hills. The country is on its knees after the wave of bad weather: over 300 people were evacuated via an airlift, but just as many are missing.

At the foot of the Gran Paradiso, no one had predicted that last night all that water could drain away in such a short time. The rain gauge recorded 130 millimeters during the storm. The Grand Eyvia stream, a tributary of the Dora Baltea, has swollen to the point of obliterating sections of the regional number 47, the only road that connects Cogne to the valley floor. Restoring it will take weeks, estimates the president of the Region, Renzo Testolin. The floods also damaged the aqueduct and so a large part of the town is still without water.

Cervinia was also hit by the disturbance, but it is not isolated: the damage, more limited, is concentrated in the warehouses of the shops in the center, invaded by mud.

In Valnontey, itself isolated from the center of Cogne due to other debris flows, one of the most delicate situations. «Last night, after the situation worsened, the Gran Paradiso campsite was evacuated. In our hotel we welcomed the displaced people, those we could, around 30 people", says Christine Cavagnet, who manages the Herbetet hotel with her family. In the morning the power supply was restored and then telephone coverage returned, albeit only partially.

«The aqueduct was carried away by the torrent, we are thinking of a temporary repair to be carried out, between tonight and tomorrow, to be able to fill the loading basin near Valnontey in order to restore water to the Cogne aqueduct», says the mayor, Franco Allera. There is currently water in the villages of Gimillan, Epinel and Lillaz, the latter however blocked by some landslides. The damage count has begun and the Region is ready to request a state of disaster.

(Unioneonline/ss)

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