Bad weather on the Asiago plateau: thousands fallen trees, severe damage to power lines

Published 1 Nov 2018 - 18.19

Environment and Nature

Seems to be 300,000, according to estimates made following the first inspection, the fallen trees to the ground or broken by the fury of the storm that on Monday 29 October 2018 has fallen on theAsiago plateau and the whole Italy: damage comparable to that caused by the great war.

From the plain of Marcesina to Val d Assa, the face of the plateau's forests has changed completely, the bad weather has left behind devastation and damage to the ecosystem really incalculable.
Marcesina, one of the most beautiful views of the plateau, now seems almost unrecognizable: because of the particular conformation of the territory, here the wind has become more violent, tearing down entire forests within hours.
In Val d Assa, the situation does not improve: here too the felled trees are in the tens of thousands.
The same applies to the area of Melette.

The bad weather also destroyed many works and the trail of SelvArt in Mezzaselva and Tanzer Park of Roana.

The CAI Veneto said that "in the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni all forest roads and trails are practically impassable for fall plants. Therefore it is recommended for all structures CAI and individual members, especially of plain, not travel nor hiking in the mountains. We leave the road as much as possible freedom for the movement of relief, security forces and all those who are engaged in damage control and recovery. All the more, don't venture into paths, risking our lives and the lives of others."

The damage, economically and environmentally, will have strong repercussions, it is estimated at least for the next ten years.
Hundred years ' efforts to rebuild the Woods following the devastation left by the great war have indeed been thwarted and, besides the risk of mudslides and landslides, with the arrival of spring is feared the spread of disease to trees survived.

THE BLACKOUTS

The damage caused by bad weather on Monday focused on the power lines, with many broken pylons and numerous electricity cables broken in several places.
This caused apower failurethat left the plateau in the dark and made communication almost impossible, as of late Monday afternoon.
City councils, with the fundamental help ofEnel, firefighters and civil protection, you are immediately mobilized to try to repair the damage and ensure, in the shortest possible time, energy electricity to all households of the plateau.
Given the serious damage found at the high-voltage transmission line (which will require days, if not weeks, of work for recovery), it was decided to make up for the lack of electricity by linking the medium voltage substations of the many areas of the plateau with electric generators from 500 kw each, arrived at Asiago already Tuesday night.
Since then the engineers, aided by firefighters who provided the necessary light to work through their curtains, have worked tirelessly and are still working to install them on substations of various towns and hamlets advantag.
In this way, since yesterday morning the tide started to come back into the homes and Highland activities. By evening, most central areas were served, while now trying to cover even more peripheral areas: thanks to the intervention of theArmy, which in the night arrived on the plateau with two mobile power plants capable of provide power for almost the entire central basin, it was possible to move smaller generators in the most devices.
In addition to the electric units, have also been arranged for medium-voltage lines from Bassano and Surrey, to power the main cabin of Asiago.