THE WORK OF HERA PEOPLE ALONGSIDE THE PEOPLE OF EMILIA-ROMAGNA HIT BY THE FLOODS IN 2023
Roads damaged by landslides or submerged by water, turned into real rivers of mud impossible to control, while violently invading homes, factories, fields, and the lives of an entire population. Floating in the murky water were memories: photographs, postcards, everyday objects. This was the scene across much of Emilia-Romagna when, between 2 and 17 May 2023, the region was severely tested by two exceptional floods, particularly affecting the provinces of Ravenna, Forlì-Cesena, Rimini, Bologna, Modena, and Reggio Emilia. It was an extreme weather event with alarming figures: 17 deaths, 100 affected municipalities, 1000 landslides, 23 rivers overflowing, peaks of 36,000 displaced people, and damages amounting to billions of euros.
Several Hera employees and their families were hit by the floods, but they did not shy away from the immense operational effort required of them: the Group immediately mobilised to play its part on the front lines, carrying out a vast rescue and recovery operation.
The extraordinary commitment of the people from the hera group
A task force, consisting of over a thousand people and supported by more than 250 specialised vehicles, including pumps, vacuum trucks, water pumps, and waste collection vehicles, was set up to work non-stop, 24 hours a day, to restore essential services.
The main objective was to minimise the disruption to the affected communities and prevent a severe public health crisis, working closely with local authorities, the Civil Protection agency, and regional and local control centres.
We made all resources available to monitor the affected areas and provide assistance to evacuated and isolated people, progressively tackling the emergency.
It was an enormous operation in terms of coordination and logistics. The priority was the cleaning of sewers to allow the water to drain from the streets, while simultaneously restoring primary services, networks, and facilities.
Subsequently, we focused on removing debris and waste from the flood-hit areas with extraordinary waste collection, bulky waste removal and disposal services, as roads were declared accessible and cleared of water.
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The priorities: water drainage and service restoration
We took immediate action to clear the sewage networks, allowing the water to drain and freeing roads and residential areas. At the same time, we focused our efforts on the prompt restoration of water, gas, and electricity services. The tireless work of our teams, who were active both day and night, tackled extreme situations by employing innovative solutions and the advanced technology of our facilities, ensuring record restoration times and allowing many people to return to their homes.
Flooding, however, does not only mean towns in the plains overwhelmed by water but also major disasters for those living in hilly areas. Around 100 active landslides caused road closures and the interruption of many connections; small municipalities and homes remained isolated with damaged pipelines and service disruptions. In these cases, before fully restoring the services, the Hera teams were able to provide controlled drinking water through tankers and, when necessary, even with bags of packaged water brought by hand by our staff.
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After the works on sewer networks and the restoration of essential services were carried out, the priority was to clear the streets of waste, an unprecedented collection effort of over 100,000 tonnes of debris, a quantity usually handled in 10 months in these areas.
Furniture, clothes, books, toys, appliances, and personal belongings coated in mud - items that just days before filled homes and shops - had to be recovered and disposed of. This was done not only to clear the streets and enable a gradual return to normality but, more importantly, to facilitate further restoration efforts in the hardest-hit towns, such as Faenza, Castel Bolognese, Cesena, and Forlì.
To organise and carry out the house-to-house collection of items and waste, sorting them as far as possible, more than 250 people were involved, including drivers from the more than 150 vehicles operating in the field, manual operators and technicians with coordination roles.
This effort was added to the challenge of waste disposal, which initially involved temporary storage in sites identified by the municipalities and then transportation to final facilities, ensuring efficient and rapid recovery operations.
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These communities have lost everything, but not the will to overcome the crisis together
We have never hidden how deeply this catastrophic event affected us. As a Group, we have always been present and active in the Emilia-Romagna region. Moreover, many Hera colleagues live in the areas hit by the floods and were themselves among those displaced. Their commitment, in particular, was twofold: on the one hand, to ensure the safety of their loved ones, and on the other hand, to help their fellow citizens. To support us, colleagues from other regions also volunteered to provide aid to workers in the hardest hit areas, in a unique and unforgettable act of solidarity.
It was an honour to witness the participation and collaboration of everyone in these communities. Though they were severely hit by the floods, they did not hesitate to take to the streets to lend a hand and assist those in greater need. An extended team of exceptional individuals enabled us to overcome the most challenging moments of this tragedy, driven by a spirit of cooperation and solidarity without boundaries.
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