Interview on the flood of Messina, October 2 2009

Last week, during our English lesson, we, students, had to interview each other on a particular historical event that we experienced personally. The person I interviewed is Gabriella Denaro, a 23-year-old girl and student from Messina, just like me. Since we were both born, and have always lived in Messina, I decided to choose a topic that certainly every inhabitant of this city has unfortunately experienced: the flood of Messina, which took place on October 2, 2009.

It was, undoubtedly, one of the most tragic events that we, as inhabitants of Messina, can remember because many people died (among them, there were children) and the ones who didn’t die lost everything: their houses, their cars, in the worst of cases their relatives, and consequently a reason to live.

So, I felt that this would be interesting to be faced in my interview, also because I had the opportunity to listen to my colleague’s impressions and therefore to share the same feelings of fears caused by those awful memories. 

1. C: Gabriella, can you remember exactly when it happened?

G: Yes, of course. How can we forget?! It happened on October 2, 2009. Two years ago.

2. C: What was your first reaction, when you heard about this shocking event?

G: I was extremely afraid and upset because I couldn’t believe that this could have happened just in Messina, my own town! Televisions and news were transmitting those terrible images of mud, flooded houses and floating cars.. in short.. a real disaster!

3. C: Where were you during that “Apocalypse”?

G: I was not in Messina. I was in Catania, at the airport, because I had been in Milan and I was coming back home; obviously the highways to Messina were all blocked because of the landslides caused by the heavy rain. As a consequence I didn’t know how to come back home. So I had to take another way, the longest one to Messina.

4. C: Did you know any of the victims of the disaster?

G: No, I didn’t know anybody, but I was sad in any case, as if I had known any of them, because in these cases it doesn’t matter whether you know a person or not, you’re sorry and you can’t do anything about it.

5. C: Did you help anyone? Many people lost everything..

G: Yes, obviously I tried to do my best, even though in these cases nothing is ever enough; however it’s important to do what you can when something like this happens; so I went to a school and gave some money to the Associations dealing with people involved in the flood.

6. C: Do you think that this is something that could be avoided?

G: Mhm.. I’m not so sure. Maybe yes, but however the rain was so heavy that this disaster could hardly be avoided. This is still an unresolved question.

7. C: In your opinion, is there anyone guilty and, consequently, responsible for this terrible trouble?

G: Maybe the Government. They allowed people to build houses in areas that could be dangerous and unsafe.. In short, the places where the victims lived (I mean the ground on which the houses were built) were not so appropriate, and they (the Government) should have been more careful.

8. C: Do you think that, with rainy weather, this could happen again?

G: Yes, I think so, especially if we do nothing to avoid it. The Government is somewhat passive, and it’s hard to admit it. Nevertheless I hope that this does not occur again. It would be a real nightmare!

9. C: And so, according to you, was this a natural disaster or was it a lack of interest by the Government?

G: It could be both. Something bad might happen but not so devastating. Probably some lives could have been saved, if we had been more careful.

10. C: Do you think that people who live there are safe now?

G: Not all people are safe, I think, because I heard about people who didn’t want to leave their houses, in spite of the disaster. I think this is insanity. People should change their mentality first, and then they can be safe.

11. C: Do you have anything to add?

G: Not much. I only hope that this doesn’t happen again. Unfortunately we cannot do anything to prevent natural disaster. Nature is something that we cannot fight, but with a little more attention we could, at least, reduce just some damages.

Cristina La Rosa