A decade after earthquake, Italy's Amatrice struggles to rebuild
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Amatrice → struggle → earthquake
AMATRICE, Italy, Aug 20 - In the early hours of August 24, 2016, Giorgio Cortellesi stumbled through the dust and darkness of Amatrice, fearing his children were dead, buried beneath tons of rubble.
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children → stumble → rubble
His two young sons had been staying overnight with their grandparents when an earthquake levelled much of the central Italian hilltown.
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earthquake → stay → hilltown
Rushing over from a nearby hamlet, Cortellesi found the streets in ruins, muffled cries rising from collapsed homes.
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streets → rush → homes
Then he caught the sound of one of his sons calling for help.
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one → catch → help
"I didn't think I would find them alive, but when I heard his voice, it was as if I started breathing again
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I → think → voice
," said Cortellesi.
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Cortellesi → say → ?
He promised himself that if his boys survived he would help rebuild Amatrice, which bore the brunt of the calamity, with 237 people dying in the town out of a total death toll of 303.
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people → promise → 303
Elected town mayor in 2021, Cortellesi is trying to make good on his pledge, but it isn't easy.
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it → elect → pledge
The 6.2-magnitude earthquake and aftershocks destroyed much of Amatrice's historic centre and many outlying areas, leaving several thousand people homeless.
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earthquake → destroy → people
The state has promised to pay for the vast bulk of the reconstruction and has so far approved private and public sector projects worth €22.7 billion ($26.3 billion) across the disaster zone.
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state → promise → zone
Around €10 billion has been paid out to date.
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billion → pay → date
In Amatrice, 38% of the damaged properties have been restored, with the pace of building picking up markedly over the past 12 months.
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pace → damage → months
Cranes dot the town and clusters of pristine new homes have sprouted amidst the desolation.
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clusters → dot → desolation
Even so, only a small proportion of the structures flattened in 2016 have been rebuilt.
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proportion → flatten → 2016
Much of the historic centre remains behind barriers, where two lone towers that survived the earthquake gaze over the blasted wasteland.
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that → remain → wasteland
Around 1,000 people, roughly 60% of the population, still live in small, prefabricated shelters, while each year a few families drift away, seeking a brighter future elsewhere.
"
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families → live → future
After 10 years many people have lost faith," said Cortellesi.
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Cortellesi → lose → faith
"We need to keep on encouraging them, but we can't do more than we are already doing."
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we → need → more
As with other major Italian earthquakes, such as L'Aquila in 2009, Amatrice's reconstruction got bogged down in bureaucracy, legal disputes and shifting priorities.
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reconstruction → bogge → bureaucracy
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted rebuilding efforts, while Italy's generous "Superbonus" renovation scheme, intended to revive the virus-hit economy, pushed up the cost of building materials and siphoned off labour to more lucrative projects across Italy.
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scheme → disrupt → Italy
"The Superbonus led to an almost total stop that lasted two years.
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that → lead → stop
It was a disaster," said Cortellesi.
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Cortellesi → say → ?
Rebuilding densely packed medieval neighbourhoods was complicated by multiple owners, inheritance disputes and unresolved property claims that made every planning application a legal minefield.
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application → rebuild → owners
Officials say fears of mafia interference in the adjudication of multi-million-euro contracts added further layers of scrutiny that snarled some projects for years.
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that → say → years
Yet for some survivors, the slow pace of reconstruction has been only one part of a much deeper struggle to remain.
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pace → remain → struggle
Daniele Bonanni lost his mother, sister and nephew in the earthquake, leaving just him, his niece and her baby daughter alive.
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Bonanni → lose → him
A sought-after chef, Bonanni could easily have moved on.
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Bonanni → seek → ?
Instead he stayed put.
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he → stay → ?
"It seemed wrong to abandon the place where I grew up and where my family built a life," he said.
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he → seem → life
Even today I cannot say for certain."
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I → say → ?
For years, descendants of Amatrice families returned each August to homes inherited from parents and grandparents, but many of those properties were lost.
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many → return → properties
"People once came for the summer, now they come for lunch," said Bonanni, who runs a chic restaurant in a food village established for chefs who had lost their businesses.
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who → come → businesses
"If you create a generational break of 10 or 15 years, the bond dies," he said.
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he → create → years
FINANCIAL TRAP
Few embody the frustrations of reconstruction more than brother and sister Alfredo and Elisabetta Perilli.
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Few → embody → Perilli
They lost many relatives and their respective homes in the centre of Amatrice.
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They → lose → Amatrice
Alfredo still has to pay the mortgage on his old house, trapping him financially.
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Alfredo → have → him
"The building no longer exists, but the bank wants its money every month," he said.
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he → exist → money
The Perillis also lost their family-run restaurant and hotel, with the land it once occupied now serving as a temporary access route for the reconstruction of a hospital.
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it → lose → hospital
Building work was scheduled to finish in 2022.
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work → schedule → 2022
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
