Norcia carabinieri save two British citizens left in the hamlet of Pescia

(To Arms of the Carabinieri)
19/01/17

Last night the carabinieri of the tenancy of Norcia rescued two elderly English spouses, who were completely isolated inside their home in the hamlet of Pescia.

The town of Norcia, already severely tested by the seismic shocks of the 24 August and the 26 and 30 October 2016, in recent days has been enveloped by a dense and prolonged snowfall, which in some villages has assumed the dimensions of a real storm, completely covering some areas with snow columns even more than three meters high.

This is what happened to the hamlet of Pescia, located at an altitude of about 1100 meters. A small town that can only be reached via a small road that climbs along the side of Monte Pizzuto; a small road already devastated by the earthquake that had made it impassable and that within a few hours was covered with about two meters of snow. The result was that the only two people who still lived in the hamlet, two spouses of English nationality, remained isolated and locked inside their home.

The request for help was taken late yesterday afternoon, 18 January, when once again the earth returned to tremble with tremendous vehemence and after that Pescia was also without electricity. The Norcia carabinieri - after carrying out an initial inspection to understand the feasibility of the rescue operation - decided to use two special vehicles supplied with the weapon: a snowmobile and a snowmobile.

Two volunteers from the National Corps of Alpine and Speleological Rescue Umbria also took part in the operations, who decided to face both the avalanche danger and that of the possible collapse of the underlying road surface, already seriously damaged by the earthquakes of recent months. Thanks to the special vehicles equipped to deal with extreme emergency situations, the carabinieri - after more than four hours spent fighting against the storm in progress and the columns of fresh snow - reached the center of the small hamlet on the border between Umbria and Lazio, bringing to safety the two elderly spouses who were found stuck in the house, frightened but in good general condition. The two were then transported to the collective containers installed in Norcia, where they were able to spend the night in the warm and finally safe.

But difficulties were not lacking. Not only the danger avalanches, always lurking given the succession of seismic tremors; in fact, in some points, due to some small avalanches, the snow reached even 4 meters in height and the rescuers had to shovel the snow - by hand - in order to allow the passage of vehicles and the success of the operation. In other sections, however, due to the poor conditions of the road surface, the snow hid deep holes, in which vehicles and soldiers have often been stuck.

The work that the Arma dei Carabinieri in Norcia, as well as in the entire Valnerina, is incessant, lends seamlessly, in order to guarantee not only the prevention and repression of crimes but also the aid to all the populations affected by the tragic events of recent months. Even the smallest and most isolated fractions and centers are constantly monitored, giving each individual citizen the possibility of obtaining help and assistance in any circumstances and whatever the climatic and / or geomorphological conditions.