Stay or go

For those whose homes had been damaged by the earthquake of May 1976, the hope of returning home quickly faded. The goal of transitioning “from tents to houses” soon proved to be unachievable. As the months passed, resistance to the “barracks”, which the earthquake victims saw as a reminder of a situation they had already experienced elsewhere in Italy, weakened. Meanwhile, anger grew among those in the tents who feared having to spend the winter in those conditions.

The homeless were organised into committees, one for each tent camp. Supported by the Friulian Church, they publicly denounced their situation, including during the visit to Friuli by the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, Giulio Andreotti. Shortly afterwards, the strong tremors in mid-September dispelled any remaining illusions, making it clear that reconstruction would be a lengthy process and that preparations for the approaching winter had to be made. Recalled to Friuli, the Special Commissioner, Giuseppe Zamberletti, was given free rein to organise the evacuation of thousands of people and the installation of prefabricated units, which he undertook to complete by March 1977.

With the help of the army, the transfer of more than 32,000 people was organised to the Friulian Adriatic coast, nearby Venetian seaside resorts and the Carnic mountains within a few weeks. Families were accommodated in private homes, while elderly people who were unable to care for themselves were housed in hotels. An extraordinary network of assistance was mobilised. In the tourist locations, communities organised themselves to coordinate services, assist the most vulnerable and those who had lost family members, and maintain a sense of community. Priests and young people were at the heart of this extraordinary sense of community.

Within six months, Zamberletti had launched and completed the construction of the prefabricated villages. On March 31 1977, the hotels in tourist locations were vacated, and the homeless population returned to their towns, where they were provided with temporary housing until reconstruction was completed. This would be a lengthy process requiring the efforts of everyone involved.