Three years later, the damage caused by the violent flood that on September 15, 2022 hit the territory of the Marche and part of Umbria, involving 2,500 hectares of land, over 2,500 private houses and causing the death of 13 people, are still visible. The strong rainfall, in fact, caused the flooding of three different rivers (the misa near Senigallia, the Cesano and the Esino), with over 400 mm of rain fallen in less than 6 hours in the Cantiano area (PU) and 90 mm peaks in an hour.
According to the official reconstruction created by the Marche Region, the violent rainfall initially involved the mountain and high-high-center-northern high-cultural areas of the region, and then decreased in intensity and move to the coast: at that point, a self-regenerating storm (which is also fueled thanks to the warm and humid surface of the sea) unloaded exceptional quantity of rain for the area, already particularly dry following a period of drought due to the summer season.
Three years after the flood, some awareness initiatives for the population have been activated, so as to avoid inadequate behaviors in the event of flooding, while the investigation against 22 officials for alleged omissions and negligence is still open in the maintenance interventions of the rivers of the rivers. In the meantime, citizens and businesses have received some refreshments: in total, the government has allocated 400 million euros, to which another 20 million are added from the European solidarity fund for the safety of the area.
What happened 3 years ago from a meteorological point of view: the rainfall map
Thanks to the reconstruction provided by the Marche Region, it was possible to trace the causes of the strong rainfall that caused the flood: specifically, on September 15, 2022 the Italian central regions were affected by western flows deriving from a deep depression on Scandinavia, to which a secondary minimum was joined on the Iberian peninsula and the high pressure from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Precisely this situation meant that the fresh air of Atlantic origin entered the central-northern Tyrrhenian regions and that, at the same time, the warmest and most humid air arriving from northern Africa was headed towards the central-southern Tyrrhenian regions.
At that point, some temporal systems have developed in the contact area of these two air masses on the Tyrrhenian side: initially these phenomena have mainly affected the mountain and high-center-central-northern areas of the region. In the late afternoon of September 15, however, the storm cells moved along the coastal area, where a self -founding temporal system was created which unloaded quantities of precipitation high in a very short time and causing the flooding of the Cesano, Misa and Esino rivers.
To be particularly affected by the background of the dorsal between Mount Catria and Monte Cucco, where in just 6 hours 400 mm of rain were recorded (Cantiano station), with peaks of 90 mm in an hour, which correspond to over 30% of the annual average for this area.
The damage caused by the violent flood and the victims
The intense rains then caused several landslides, with sliding and flows of mud and debris especially in the more upstream areas, while on the valley the rapid raising of the hydrometric levels was triggered, with sudden floods and destructive floods. The most interested basins were that of Metauro, through his tributary Burano who Bagna Cantiano, and that of Misa, through his tributary Nevola who cross the hinterland of Senigallia. Consequently, several locations in the province of Ancona have been overwhelmed by the waters of the Misa river, including the municipalities of Ostra, Serra de ‘Conti and Senigallia, and the Nevola river, such as the municipalities of Ostra Vetere, Barbara, Castelleone of Suasa and Trecastelli.
In addition to the budget of 13 victims, the flood caused numerous injured, over 300 displaced people and material damage for over 2 billion euros.
It should then be emphasized that intense rainfall affected brands and part of Umbria following a period of prolonged drought, due to the heat of the summer season: for this reason, the territory presented a degree of low saturation and, consequently, was not able to effectively absorb the imposing amount of rain that fell in close times, in fact promoting the visible floods also in the video below.
The investigation for omissions and negligence in maintenance interventions
Three years after the flood, the legal authorities ordered the indictment for 22 people, between officials and technicians of the Marche region and the province of Ancona, on charges of culpable flood cooperation, cooperation in multiple manslaughter and serious injuries. The investigation, in particular, aims to establish alleged omissions and negligence in the maintenance interventions of the rivers of the rivers, whose flooding caused the flooding of different locations and the death of 13 people.
At the same time, the Region has started some initiatives with the aim of raising awareness of the population on risks in the event of floods of this type, so as to teach citizens the correct behaviors to be adopted in the event of flooding and similar circumstances.
