We all hope that it will not make the situation worse. See below a new video of the devastation with cars and trucks wiped out by the flood. Some new details seem indicate that ther’ve been at least 2 big landslides detached from the high and steep hills above Vernazza, exactly from the “road of Sanctuaries”, the most recent road builded acros the 80′s to connect Manarola (already reached by the road in the 70′s) with Corniglia and Vernazza.
As this article seems suppose, the road could be the origin (and the cause) of the lanslides that made the flood so devastating.
________END UPDATE_______

[AGGIORNAMENTO 01/11]
La decima vittima dell’alluvione è stata ritrovata oggi a Borghetto Vara mentre il Presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano in un messaggio al sindaco di Monterosso Angelo Betta ha elogiato l’eroico altruismo di Sandro Usai, il volontario morto a Monterosso, e ha confermato l’avvio della procedura per il conferimento della medaglia d’oro al valore civile.
Torna a fare paura la pioggia che è prevista molto forte per il prossimo weekend. In teoria si potrebbero verificare condizioni simili a quelle del 25 ottobre, Vernazza trema.
Previsioni Meteo Cinque Terre ->
_______[FINE AGGIORNAMENTO]_________

[AGGIORNAMENTO 31/10]
Oggi a caterpillar (Radio rai 2) intervistato il sindaco di Vernazza Vincenzo Resasco, ecco qui sotto l’audio dell’intervista

I lavori procedono con grande impegno, c’è una gran voglia di tornare alla normalità.
Lo sbocco a mare del torrente esondato martedì scorso ( è la prima volta nella storia di Vernazza che ciò accade) è stato riaperto, ma naturalmente sul percorso restano molte migliaia di metri cubi di detriti che richiederanno molto tempo per essere rimossi.
E’ stata riaperta la linea ferroviaria ma solo su un binario e solo per treni merci e a lunga percorrenza a velocità ridotta; non è possibile per i passeggeri scendere e salire a Vernazza che resta raggiungibile solo via mare.
Le 5 terre intanto chiedono aiuto agli Stati Uniti; proposta all’ambasciatore USA a Roma David Thorne un’iniziativa che prevede un “buono vacanza” per i turisti americani che effettueranno un versamento in denaro per la ricostruzione.
_______FINE AGGIORNAMENTO______

[UPDATE 30/10]
Just another incredible video today, and the 9th victim of the flood found in Monterosso, the first volounteer killed by the mud wave..

______END UPDATE________

[UPDATE 29/10]
US citizens can make a donation using Paypal and the major Credit Card, here’s a link to Red Cross Foundation http://cri.it/flex/FixedPages/EN/Donazioni.php/L/EN.

2 more videos to add testimonials to the terrible event.
Today electricity is back in Vernazza and Monterosso, the motorway are all opened but trafic is slow.
Also one track of the railway has been reactivated and the vice-major Leonardini said that there will be huge restauration but no evacuation will be acted, except, eventually for a short time. In this case the other villages ( remind that Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia are intact) have offered hospitality to their brothers in trouble. In the meantime one house collapsed in the “Muro” fraction of Vernazza.
People is working very hard and Monterosso has partially changed after the catastrophic view of the first day, everyone is doing 200% of his best: no cry, no loud complain, just dig.
Unfortunately the number of casualties have increased to 8 and still an unprecised number of people ( 7-10) is missing in the zone affected by the flood.



____END UPDATE______

[UPDATE 28/10/2011]
Vernazza to be evacuated? it’s a possible evolution of the near future since several houses seem to be severely damaged, still there’s no water, no gas and no electricity. Today estimates says 35.000 cubic meters of debrees (!) have to be removed from the main street of the town, a new river-bed in place of the old one…One big Caterpillar taken in place by the Navy is operating near the seaside ( Piazza Marconi) where the space is wide enough; inside, only small buldozzer can acceede the internal street, it will be a long way to the recover.
The major of Vernazza said earlier today that Vernazza’s drama is understimated by local press and asked for HELP.
In the meantime some new videos (see here below) keep coming from eyewitness of these terrible moments when fear and impotence were mixed in an dramatically unforgettable experience..
Follow Cinque Terre on Twitter or become our FB fan: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cinque-Terre/272473763949 for updates

MONTEROSSO: the day after…

[Show as slideshow]

_________END UPDATE__________

[UPDATE 27/10/2011]
For our international guests some information for the next days:
The Town of Vernazza is unreachable because the road has been destroyed and the railway line is still under several meters of debrees. (see the picture below)
These link is to the last “TRENITALIA” schedule updated:

LONG DISTANCE: http://www.fsnews.it/cms-file/allegati/fsnews/Provvedimenti_Giorno_27_ottobre_2011.pdf

GENOVA-LA SPEZIA AND VICE VERSA: http://www.fsnews.it/cms-file/allegati/fsnews/La_Spezia_Ge_271011_B.pdf

CHECK later for updates.

More info on http://www.viaggiatreno.it/viaggiatreno/vt.html

Vernazza is the worse situation, it’s reachable only by boat and it’s a risky challenge since the harbour is filled with cars, trees, rocks, sunken boats and everything taken down by the fury of mud.
Vernazza has paid the worse tribute to the flood with 3 people missing, almost certainly died. Children have been evacuated and kept in the municipality hall, several houses are severely damaged and will need investigation.
Gas is over, water supply is over, electricity is partially over as well as comunications (phones, mobile and internet)
From Manarola and Riomaggiore a long column of small boats starts every morning to supply basic stuff such as food, medicines, water. Tomorrow ( 28/10) some diesel fuel will be taken ito supply a couple of small caterpillar already in place to try to move a part of the ENORMOUS amount of stones, trees and debrees that have dramatically changed the sealine and the heart of Vernazza. In this moment and for several month to come Vernazza is “on the knees”, most of the people has lost EVERYTHING, the entire economy is vanished..and that’s the reason why we need toursts to keep coming, to help us to recover. We’ll remake Vernazza and Monterosso more beautiful than before but we need everyone’s help.

COMPARISON PIC before and after:
see this twitter status for a dramatic comparison
Aereal view
Vernazza Harbour

The flood in Monterosso has also caused a terrible situation wit one died. A little bit better than Vernazza, due to the conformation of the town, wide and flat, the flooded area is already reachable and caterpillars have started to dig and move the enormous amount of debrees..
_______END UPDATE_______

[Show as slideshow]

12►

Documentata in foto e video la terribile tragedia dell’alluvione di oggi 25 ottobre, che ha colpito i borghi rivieraschi di Monterosso e Vernazza (dove si contano 2 dispersi) Levanto e Bonassola e più nell’interno la Val di Vara..ecco un’ultim’ora:

(AGI) – La Spezia, 25 ott. – Sale a 8 il numero dei dispersi per l’alluvione nello Spezzino. Una palazzina composta da due abitazioni adiacenti e’ crollata in localita’ Cassana di Brugnato, in Val di Vara. Al momento una ragazza e’ stata estratta viva dalle macerie ma altre tre persone che abitavano nella casa risultano disperse e Vigili del fuoco e uomini della Protezione civile stanno cercando sotto le macerie. Altre tre persone risultano disperse a Borghetto Vara inghiottite dal fiume e altre due persone risulterebbero disperse a Vernazza.
Si trovavano all’interno della vettura che secondo alcuni testimoni sarebbe stata inghiottita dal fango. (AGI)

AGGIORNAMENTO DEL 26/10/2011 ore 18.00
A Vernazza mancano all’appello 3 persone, con molta probabilità decedute; il centro del paese è una distesa di detriti, la strada non esiste più; la ferrovia è interrotta, seppellita da un monte di detriti; nessun collegamento è possibile eccetto via mare; mancano luce acqua e gas, gli impianti sono completamente distrutti.
Negli altri borghi (Riomaggiore e Manarola) non colpiti dal disastro si è coordinato un censimento dei posti letto disponibili per l’ospitalità degli sfollati, circa 80 posti letto sono stati reperiti presso gli affittacamere e gli hotel risparmiati; in caso di bisogno contattare la P.A. Manarola allo 0187 920266.

Alluvione alle Cinque Terre foto e video is a post from: √ Cinque Terre Blog

A distanza di 2 giorni il Sindaco Angelo Betta dopo il primo momento di comprensibile sconforto ha dichiarato: ci rimetteremo in piedi.

Alluvione a Monterosso (Video) is a post from: √ Cinque Terre Blog

Cliff jumping in the Cinque Terre (video) is a post from: √ Cinque Terre Blog

As usual he points the attention on few basic and useful infos for tourists givin an exact overview of what one can expect visiting the Cinque Terre

Another Rick Steves’ video about the Cinque Terre is a post from: √ Cinque Terre Blog

 

Percorso degli stand gastronomici a Monterosso (cliccate per ingrandire la mappa)

 

La sagra dei limoni di Monterosso al Mare is a post from: √ Cinque Terre Blog

Ogni anno Monterosso rispetta la tradizione di
tipico paese di mare festeggiando la sua gustosa
acciuga con banchetti gastronomici. Mare
permettendo, la sagra viene conclusa con un giro
in battello per ammirare le lampare.
Fegina e centro storico Per informazioni:
PRO LOCO
Tel. 0187 817506 – fax 0187 818970
www.prolocomonterosso.it

Sagra dell’acciuga di Monterosso is a post from: √ Cinque Terre Blog

This videos are quite dated but still very interesting; they’ve been produced by Dennis Callan.

Dennis has been president of the Hawaii Geographic Society since 1986 and led his first two Europe tours in 1987. Since then he has formed his own travel company and conducted over 35 tours throughout Europe, as well as 9 tours in the Americas, doing most of the lecturing and coordinating the logistics while shooting video every step of the way.  you can find a full article written while shooting this video on

http://starbulletin.com/2006/05/07/travel/story01.html

Video: Monterosso Cinque Terre (english) is a post from: √ Cinque Terre Blog