My grandfather was 30 when the flood took place. My grandmother was 28, pregnant with my father. It had been raining for several days, incessantly. The amount of rain and the inefficiency of the river's supports had the tragic consequence of Arno's flood.
My grandfather owned a printing house in the centre of Florence, near piazza San Marco. He struggled to reach his office that morning due to the water on the streets. Nevertheless the level of water there was low compared to other areas of Florence. In fact, levels of the city ground varied from area to area. Santa Croce, for example, was one of the most damaged.
Florentines realised how much risk the Arno could mean. Massive damage was caused to the craftsmanship of the city, several workshop in the city centre being destroyed. All my grandfather could see on his way to work were floating kiosks and broken shop fronts. That day was the first of a long period where he couldn't work. No one could.
So he and a group of friends decided to help as much as they could. Drinking water storages sold out within a couple of days so they went to Fiesole to get it: they filled huge demijohns and brought them to Florentine families. They also went to Bivigliano, outside Florence, where they took large amounts of bread and brought it back to the city to share it with friends and neighbours.
He then remembered the so called 'Angeli del fango', mud angels, coming from all over the world, who took action for the rescue of cultural goods such as works of art and ancient books. He told me that many love stories were born from this volunteering work. The majority of people taking part in it were young people who just wanted to help the city, setting aside all parties and political views.
My grandfather was amazed by the collaboration of all those people, united by a sense of fear and at the same time a strong hope to begin again. This deep cooperation and sympathy , he said, should be omnipresent, not just something that emerges after disasters.
While talking about his memories, he was visibly moved.
BY irene arrighi
Il dipartimento