Milan is living a 24 hrs blackout in the XXI century

Milan, the most expensive city in Italy and one that would like to be a leading urban center in Europe, is seeing large areas subjected to a 24-hour blackout after a late summer storm.

All this generates major inconveniences that seem unbelievable for a 21st century European city: Groceries in the fridge to be thrown away. Elderly and disabled people are stuck at home because elevators do not work. Inability to recharge computers and smartphones and watch television. Dinner by candlelight. A nightmare in times of digital civilization.

A few examples? To the email of the editorial staff of Il Giorno yesterday at 9:50 a.m.—date and time are important to remember—came the testimony of Alessandro Marelli, a citizen who lives in the Navigli district: “I report that since yesterday (Thursday, ed.) at 1 p.m. that there is a lack of electricity in my apartment building and some adjacent ones. In the future, in green Milan, where it is assumed that everyone travels electric, all it takes is a severe thunderstorm to leave some streets without light and without information (Unareti said it would solve within 3 hours, then an hour, then between 3 and 5, then a few hours, then 8 and 7, then a few more hours, now it says 3, I have it all documented).”

Unareti, which takes care of the city’s electricity grids, as early as Thursday, when the rain was still falling, posted a note on its website explaining what was happening and assuring that it was working to restore electricity as soon as possible: “Unareti’s emergency teams are at work in the areas of Milan most affected by the bad weather that has affected the city since last night. In particular, where the heavy rainfall has caused flooding, it may be necessary to empty from water the rooms that house electrical substations (6 thousand throughout the city, ed.). In these cases, the reactivation of service is possible only after thorough drying operations, which could take several hours.”

Milan lies on an area historically rich in water. To build the underground power stations without weighing this problem is to ignore the physical reality of the city or simply not care about it. So the most expensive city, as real estate prices go, in Italy finds itself with inadequate power grids that leave citizens in the dark. Better to live in the country!