The Asiago plateau in Veneto is no longer the one we know. Hundreds of thousands of trees were felled by extremely powerful gusts of wind: the images tell what words cannot express.
The face of the plateau's woodlands has changed completely. This is what can be read on the website of the municipality of Asiago, in the province of Vicenza in the Veneto region. The photographs taken by Vittorio Zunino Celotto are clear testimony to the darkness that descended on the plateau with the storm of 29 October.
That fairy-tale landscape, celebrated in the immortal words of the writer Mario Rigoni Stern, was swept away by gusts of wind that reached speeds of 166 kilometres per hour.
Read also: Severe weather. The forests of Rigoni Stern and Stradivari are gone
At least 300,000 trees have fallen, and 400,000 cubic metres of timber lie abandoned on ground soaked with rain and tears. If the portion of Trentino Alto Adige affected is also taken into account, the woodland area lost extends across five thousand square kilometres.
"The severe weather of exceptional gravity that struck Italy at the end of October also affected our territory, the Asiago plateau, causing damage above all to the woodland heritage," recounts Andrea Rigoni, president of the Rigoni di Asiago group, speaking to LifeGate. "Within the company we did not suffer any particular consequences, apart from a production stoppage of two or three days due to the lack of electricity. The loss of forests can only be compared to the tragedy of the First World War. We are coordinating with the local authorities to make a tangible contribution to their rebirth: it will be a long and difficult undertaking, it will take many years, and we will do it in memory of our grandparents who replanted millions of trees."
Listen to "Giornata nazionale degli alberi. La testimonianza di Andrea Rigoni sul maltempo che ha colpito l'altopiano di Asiago" on Spreaker.