In the past few days, a violent hailstorm hit Catania. Via Etna, in the city centre, was transformed the a torrent: shops were flooded and cars and motorbikes were dragged against Palazzo dei Chierici, together with trash cans, tables and chairs from the bars along the street. Over 50 millimetres of water fell in just half an hour.
Giuseppe Amore, an officer from Confagricoltura, stated that "on 21st February, a hailstorm hit the city at around 4.30 pm and lasted 2 hours with devastating effects. Vegetable crops were also affected, but it is still early to assess the damage. For now, we are keeping the situation monitored."
"We should have a complete picture of the situation in a week's time. Anyway, these phenomenons are getting more and more frequent. We go from long periods of drought to violent storms, and therefore it is very hard to make predictions. The areas that were hit the hardest seem to be Catania, Misterbianco and the Etna foothill, but we still don't know for sure which municipalities have been affected and to what extent," continued Amore.
A producer from the Catania province reports that flooding occurred in a restricted area in Catania, so generally there weren't significant damages to the agricultural sector. "The event forced cereal farmers to suspend weed control for a few days."
Graziano Scardino, director of Catania's CIA (Italian Farmer's Association), said: "we haven't received any phone calls concerning damages caused by the flood yet. Flooding occurred in the hinterland and some plots in the plain must have had problems caused by waterlogging. We are monitoring the situation and we will be able to make a more precise evaluation in the next few days."
Scardino also adds: "we have to stress that, following Etna's eruptions in the last few days, there has been abundant volcanic "sandfall" in the area between Acireale, Giarre and Santa Venerina. I have been personally monitoring the situation and at least 4-5 cm of ash has deposited. Open fields, fruit plants, lemons and vegetables have been hit the most, as Etna's "sand" is really abrasive.
A Sicilian producer also confirms this problem: "the real damage does not come from ash falling on fruit, but rather from the rubbing that occurs between fruits, which causes them to rot."
It has been reported that the ash cloud reached even Puglia. Ashfalls have been registered in Catanzaro, Crotone and in the Sila plateau, where the snow turned black. The south-westerly wind carried Sicilian volcanic ash and lapilli towards the North-East.
Copyright FreshPlaza
