MEMORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY

A fragile land, a resilient population

Emilia-Romagna is a region that has historically been prone to floods and inundations due to the distinctive characteristics of parts of its territory: a vast plain crossed by numerous rivers and waterways.

In Romagna, for example, several catastrophic floods of the Ronco, Montone, and Lamone rivers have occurred over the centuries. One of the most severe took place in 1636, when exceptionally heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding in Ravenna and the surrounding area. Likewise, in the Bologna area, floods of the Reno, Savena, and other Apennine streams repeatedly overflowed their banks, particularly affecting rural communities and farmland.

The consequences were often devastating: crop losses, the spread of disease in stagnant waters, forced population displacement, famine, and economic crises. At the same time, the Apennine belt has long been one of the regions most exposed to landslide risk, owing to its steep slopes, clay-rich soils prone to sliding, and the frequent reactivation of ancient landslides.

Following the flood of 1636, and especially from the eighteenth century onwards, local authorities recognized the need for a more comprehensive water management policy. As a result, studies were undertaken on river behaviour and sedimentation processes—most notably by Bolognese mathematicians such as Domenico Guglielmini and Eustachio Manfredi—and major hydraulic works were carried out, including river diversions, embankment raising, and the construction of flood-relief channels. A significant example was the alteration of the course of the Savena River in 1776.

Nevertheless, the region continued to be affected by severe flooding events, such as those of 1839, highlighting the need for more extensive and coordinated hydraulic infrastructure and eventually leading to the gradual establishment of land reclamation and water management consortia.

The Floods of 1939 and 1966

In 1939, Emilia-Romagna was struck by a major hydrogeological disaster. Between late May and June of that year, the Apennine region and the basins of the main rivers were affected by exceptionally heavy rainfall, which caused flooding, river overflows, and landslides. The areas most severely impacted were those that today correspond to the provinces of Forlì-Cesena, Ravenna, and Rimini.

Overall, several towns and villages suffered flooding and damage to infrastructure, while the countryside was transformed into a vast lake covering trees, roads, and houses. In the mountainous areas, extensive landslides occurred. Beyond the physical destruction, the flood had significant economic and social consequences: many farmers lost their crops, land, and homes, and part of the affected population migrated to other regions of Italy.

The flood of November 1966 affected not only Tuscany and northeastern Italy but also Emilia-Romagna, where it caused exceptional river floods, inundation of lowland areas, landslides in the Apennines, and episodes of coastal flooding. More specifically, following weeks of persistent rainfall throughout October 1966, exceptionally heavy precipitation fell across much of northern and central Italy between 3 and 5 November. In Emilia-Romagna, numerous rivers and streams reached critical levels. Some of the most severe incidents involved the Reno River and its tributaries, particularly the Samoggia. Contemporary reports describe flooded farmland, breached embankments, damaged infrastructure, and hundreds of displaced residents.

Floods in the 1970s and 1990s

The heavy rainfall that occurred in mid-September 1972 caused the Sillaro Stream to flood, leading to overtopping and breaches of embankments in the Imola area. This resulted in significant flooding across the countryside and in several localities, including Sesto Imolese and Buda. Water inundated farms, homes, and roads, submerged crops, and disrupted connections between villages. Within a few hours, vast rural areas were transformed into an enormous expanse of muddy water. The damage was extensive: agricultural businesses were devastated, livestock drowned, machinery was rendered unusable, and families were forced to leave their homes. The 1972 flood remained deeply etched in the collective memory of the Imola area as a traumatic event, highlighting the vulnerability of the territory and the need to strengthen the Sillaro’s flood defenses.

During the 1990s, although no flood comparable to those of 1939 and 1966 was recorded, there were numerous episodes of severe weather, confirming that in recent decades Emilia-Romagna has experienced an increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events capable of causing flooding. In 1992 and 1993, for example, several rivers in Romagna—including the Savio, Ronco, Montone, and Lamone—experienced flooding, resulting in localized inundation of farmland and reclaimed lowland areas. In the autumn of 1994, the Po River flood also affected Emilia-Romagna, although without the devastating consequences observed in Piedmont. Furthermore, between 1995 and 1999, several episodes of prolonged rainfall occurred, particularly in the provinces of Modena, Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Forlì-Cesena, and Ravenna. These events triggered landslides in the Emilian and Romagnol Apennines, caused road and railway disruptions, and led to localized flooding along streams and watercourses.

Land in Motion

The Emilia-Romagna Apennines are an area highly exposed to landslide risk. Among the most severe landslide events are those associated with the devastating floods of 1939. Exceptionally intense rainfall—exceeding 300 mm in some mountainous areas of Romagna, compared with an average monthly rainfall of about 430 mm—rapidly saturated the clay-rich soils of the Apennines. This triggered the reactivation of ancient landslides (such as the Saltino landslide), as well as new slope failures, earth movements, ground subsidence, and the sliding of enormous masses of soil and rock.

The consequences were severe: numerous buildings were destroyed, roads and railway connections were disrupted, large ground fissures opened up, and entire villages became isolated. Many families were also forced to abandon their homes.

Land Reclamation Works

Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, numerous works were carried out in Emilia-Romagna to reduce the risk of flooding. The most important included: the construction, in coastal plains and inland valleys, of drainage canals, pumping stations, and drainage systems to reclaim marshy areas and quickly remove excess water; the reinforcement and raising of the embankments of major rivers (Po, Reno, Secchia, Panaro, Lamone, Senio, Ronco, Montone, etc.); the creation of flood-relief channels and the regulation of many river sections, which were straightened, deepened, or flanked by artificial canals to improve water flow; and the construction of retention basins, areas where water can be temporarily stored during floods in order to reduce peak flow in urban centers. Between the 1950s and 1980s, land reclamation consortia further expanded the network of canals, pumping systems, and hydraulic control works to adapt to increasing urbanization and changes in agriculture.

Within this context, especially between the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a key role was played by the so-called scariolanti, specialized workers in large-scale earthmoving projects. Their name derives from the “wheelbarrow” (carriola), known in some areas as scariola, the tool they used to transport soil and materials during land reclamation, embankment construction, and canal-building works. Many came from the rural areas of Romagna, where widespread poverty drove thousands of people to seek employment in reclamation worksites. Their main activities included digging canals, building and reinforcing embankments, reclaiming marshes and waterlogged land, and constructing hydraulic infrastructure. Working conditions were extremely harsh: long working days, physically demanding labor, low wages, and frequent exposure to diseases such as malaria in marshy areas.

Mountain Land Reclamation and Slope Stabilization Works

To mitigate hydrogeological instability, numerous mountain land reclamation and slope stabilization works were carried out throughout the twentieth century with the aim of stabilizing soils, reducing erosion, and regulating the runoff of rainwater. These measures included: reforestation of degraded slopes to stabilize the ground through root systems and increase water infiltration; the construction of check dams in mountain streams to slow water flow and retain sediment; drainage works to reduce water accumulation within slopes; terracing and agricultural land management measures; and the stabilization of road embankments and cut slopes.

In recent decades, the depopulation of the Apennine region and the consequent decline of traditional land-maintenance practices have made the role of land reclamation consortia even more crucial. These organizations have developed an extensive network of slope stabilization and water management works aimed at safeguarding the territory and reducing hydrogeological risk.

Storm Surges and Land Subsidence

The history of Emilia-Romagna has repeatedly been marked by storm surges due to the nature of its coastline: a low, sandy shore stretching for approximately 130 km, often only slightly above sea level and particularly exposed to the sirocco and bora winds, which push water toward the northern Adriatic Sea.

One of the most severe events of the twentieth century occurred in conjunction with the November 1966 flood that affected large areas of central and northern Italy. The exceptional combination of strong winds, high waves, and rising sea levels caused coastal flooding and widespread damage along the Emilia-Romagna coast.

Another particularly violent storm surge struck on 22 December 1979. It claimed one victim—an automobile driver trapped by floodwaters who suffered a heart attack—and further intensified the debate over land subsidence in the Ravenna area. Many experts pointed out that ground subsidence had worsened the effects of the event compared with the previous storm surge of 1966.

To protect itself from storm surges, Emilia-Romagna has developed one of Italy’s most sophisticated coastal management systems. Beginning in the 1960s, and especially after the major storm surges of 1966 and 1979, hundreds of coastal defense structures were built, including offshore breakwaters, embankments, and protective barriers. Since the 1980s, however, preference has increasingly been given to so-called “soft defenses.” The principal method consists of dredging sand from offshore deposits, transporting it to eroding beaches, and rebuilding the shoreline, which serves as a natural barrier against storm surges.

In recent decades, substantial investments have also been made in prevention measures, including the cataloguing of historical storm surges and the continuous monitoring of beaches.

As for land subsidence, it is one of the most significant geological phenomena affecting Emilia-Romagna. It impacts much of the regional plain, especially the coastal zone, increasing the risks of flooding, beach erosion, and seawater intrusion. Its causes are both natural—geological processes that have been ongoing for thousands of years—and human-induced, particularly the extraction of groundwater and natural gas from underground reservoirs.

Historically, the most critical situation occurred in the Ravenna area, where methane extraction and groundwater pumping accelerated subsidence during the post-war period. Subsequently, thanks to reductions in water and gas extraction, the phenomenon has diminished, though it has not disappeared. To monitor its evolution, the Regional Government established a dedicated subsidence monitoring network in 1983.

A Look at the Present

Floods have always occurred in Emilia-Romagna, but over the last thirty years evidence suggests that episodes of extreme rainfall have become increasingly frequent and intense, heightening flood risk. For this reason, ARPAE Emilia-Romagna has identified the region as a “climate hotspot” and has described both 2023 and 2024 as years marked by exceptional extreme weather events.

The year 2023 was the warmest in the regional climate record since 1961 and was characterized by extraordinarily intense rainfall, culminating in the devastating floods of May. Likewise, 2024 set new regional climate records and witnessed further flooding events.

The May 2023 floods remain the most extensive and destructive event in recent history. Between 1 and 17 May 2023, two severe weather systems struck the region in rapid succession. Twenty-three rivers overflowed, approximately 540 km² of territory were inundated, and more than 65,000 landslides were recorded.

In September 2024, Romagna was again hit by exceptional rainfall. In some areas of the Ravenna province, up to 360 mm of rain fell within 48 hours. The storms caused river overflows, overtopping of embankments, breaches in flood defenses, and new landslides. Between 17 and 20 October 2024, a second event affected primarily the Bologna area, with rainfall totals reaching up to 180 mm in 24 hours. This event also resulted in flooding, landslides, and further embankment failures.