During the early morning of October 31st, a mudslide came down and covered Rezzoaglio’s main highway making life for its 900 inhabitants very difficult. Four people were evacuated from their homes, and a parked car was submerged in mud. Luckily no one was passing on the road at the time of the event.
Metallic netting alongside the mountain failed to block the force of over 500 cubic meters of mud flowing down from a dislodged section of the mountain. The main telephone lines were broken, and the hospital became unreachable by ambulance. The area was designated as an at-risk zone, but questions remain on the adequacy of the retaining net which was supposed to provide a barrier for the road.
Is the cause just bad weather or is it a sign of the fragility of the territory? If the two are combined where does that leave the town beneath? Perhaps a 3Dprinted FRP netting would outlast the corrosive metal netting of the past. New materials have been engineered and have been tested as effective, so why are they not being used to keep people safe? I remain hopeful that a more advanced system of protection can provide comfort to the townspeople of Rezzoaglio. These people deserve more than to just wish for good weather.
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