ITALY: Earthquake victims in northern Italy are faced with the problem of how to rebuild their lives; not only are their homes unsafe but many of the businesses have been destroyed and millions of euro of materials damaged

Record ID: 735369

  • Title: ITALY: Earthquake victims in northern Italy are faced with the problem of how to rebuild their lives; not only are their homes unsafe but many of the businesses have been destroyed and millions of euro of materials damaged
  • Date: 1st June 2012
  • Summary: CAVEZZO, ITALY (MAY 31, 2012) (REUTERS) TENT CAMP EMERGENCY SERVICES WORKERS SETTING UP TENTS WOMAN WITH CHILD IN ARMS WALKING PAST TENTS
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Business,Disasters,Economy
  • Reuters ID: LVAEQILDQIF27KP52417003M7QV1
  • Story Text: Quake victims in Cavezzo awoke on Thursday (May 31) to face the ardous problem of how to rebuild their lives. Many people are too afraid to return home as constant tremors ripple through the area and only 5 percent of industry is working.
    Seventeen people died in Tuesday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake, many of them were workmen crushed under rubble in warehouses and factories already weakened by another quake that hit nine days before. Some 14,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.
    "I think the important thing is we have to get used to this situation," said Cavezzo resident Antonella Malavasi seated outside a tent.
    "You get used to everything even the most horrible things and so we have to get used to living in tents, not having our belongings, but we will find a way to get out of this, because we have to," she said.
    The residents of one of Italy's most productive regions, dominated by the fertile valley of the River Po, are now torn between the fear of more tremors and the fear of losing their jobs in the recession-hit country.
    Farmers' association Coldiretti estimated damage to the agricultural sector would reach 500 million euros.
    The towns of Mirandola and Cavezzo, were home to a cluster of biomedical firms, and are two of the areas hardest hit by both earthquakes.
    Emilio Contini has lost his business, Artech. In his factory, workers made valves for artificial hearts. His product was sold to hospitals all over Italy. Now his factory has been knocked down, deemed too dangerous by local authorities after the damage it sustained from the earthquake.
    Contini has to find a way to start again and is waiting to see what help the state will give him.
    "I don't know what kind of help they will give us" Contini said standing next to the rubble that was once his business.
    "We cannot ask for charity or expect a lot because there are people who are worse off and have lost their homes," he said.
    "We need a moment for us to regroup and if they could give us some money, as in other parts of Europe, within ninety days instead of in a years time, this in itself would be a great help," he said.
    Contini says he has lost over a million euro of material and his twenty workers now have an uncertain future.
    "I thought last night; What next? It is not the first time I have had to start from scratch. We didn't think we would have to do it now, we were confident we had reached a certain level. But this level collapsed and we have to start again," he said.
    "We get our strength from looking at our children and that allows us to start again," Contini said.
    Italy's big business association Confindustria said the two quakes, which together killed more than 20 people, will have a prolonged impact, adding to an already deep recession in the euro zone's third largest economy.
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