Vincenzo Pandolfi
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10/25/2009 10:37:07 AM
Update on L'Aquila earthquake
Some of you had asked a follow up on my earlier post on this topic and my family.
I am happy to say that I am here in L'Aquila (Italy) and things are going reasonably well. The destruction is amazing and having listend to a face to face description of the event by my sister and her husband it is amazing that a good number of buildings are still standing at all. Apparently when the big quake struck they were in their small car in a large open space car park with many others who did not want to spend the night inside as there had been good size shocks a few hours before. They said that the car shook from sid to side, up and down and often was on two wheels from one side to the other. (the shock absorbers have been damaged) They also experienced some rotatory motion and the whole thing lasted 30 seconds.
They now are leaving in a rented little house with one small bedroom, a very small kitchen and a small living area. In total about 50 m2. They are quite happy and grateful as everyone is well. While the town centre is a ghost town with appx 1000 business closed and damaged, the serrounds carry on with relative normality. Homes have been built since April for appx 15000 people. the remaining 45000 are still in hotels, tents and containers. It is going to be a very long and exhaustive process of rebuilding which will continue for years. Almost all the beautiful old churches here have been seriously damaged. Despite all my sister has been able to produce wonderful italian meals for us during our stay here in L'Aquila. We were lucky to find B&B accommodation nearby considering that most accommodation is used by the emegency workers and builders currently around here and of course all the homeless people.
Ciao for now.
Vincenzo
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