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November 4, 1966 - November 4, 2009 Pearls of Wisdom

The Florence flood occurred in the early hours of November 4, 1966 after an exceptional wave of bad weather, was one of the most serious flooding occurred in Italy, and caused severe damage not only in Florence but in most of Tuscany and more generally throughout the country.

One of the major mysteries of the flood of Florence has always been the number of victims: the secrecy and confidentiality of the authorities on the subject since the early days contributed to the spread macabre urban legends like that of tens of Florentines who had found a horrible death for being caught by the water in the underpass of Station Square.

Besides the Florentines barricaded in the house they had seen them slide under the windows taken out of dozens of mannequins from boutiques and fashion houses in the center, mistaking them for dead and this show had strengthened the rumors on the alleged massacre. Only recently, the Association promotes Florence, chaired by journalist Franco Mariani and since 1996 is responsible for the annual celebrations of the flood, was able to find and publish an official document of the Prefecture of 1966, which established in 34 fatalities, including 17 in Florence and 17 in the province.

The flooding had affected not only the city of Florence, but in fact, with varying intensity, throughout the northern and central Italy. The force of the water, were made only in Florence full by about six hundred thousand cubic meters of mud, had destroyed an innumerable number of bridges, many roads unusable, making very difficult the work of first aid.

The flood was one of the first episodes in Italy which showed a total lack of a central structure with the tasks of civil protection: the citizens were not warned of the impending release of the river, except for some jewelry to Ponte Vecchio who received a phone call from a night watchman who invited them to empty their shops, the news was given in very late and fail to mention the media tried to scale of the disaster, for the first few days provennero aid almost exclusively by volunteers, or by the troops stationed in the city: to see an organized effort by the government must wait six days after the disaster.

A great merit in raising awareness had to be a documentary entitled "For Florence" Florence made by the director Franco Zeffirelli, which included an impassioned plea in Italian Welsh actor Richard Burton. They came so early in the Tuscan capital first aid, as more or less official.

From the mud appeared to be a miracle "Mud Angels", thousands of young people from around the world who came to Florence on their own initiative Florence and to help save the historic and artistic heritage of the city. It was thanks to these guys who were transferred for safe and works of art books, literally torn out of the mud and oblivion. Rescuers were slow and in fact the first contingent arrived in Florence, organized by the State only six days after the disaster. The whole world seemed to mobilize to save the cultural heritage of Florence. A major contribution was made by Tuscan cities such as Prato, municipalities of Versilia, municipalities and other Italian cities, the U.S. armed forces stationed in Italy, the German Red Cross, various lay associations and Catholic, some federations of political parties and, of course, by the Italian Armed Forces. Aid "official" also coming from the 'Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

Source: Wikepedia