THE NUMBER 5 OR CINQUE REPRESENTS THE FIVE VILLAGES OF THE CINQUE TERRE WE SUPPORT THE VILLAGES, THEIR RECOVERY, & THEIR FUTURE savevernazza.com
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Cinque Terre is a grouping of small seaside villages in Northern Italy in the region of Liguria. In the Italian language, “Cinque Terre” means “Five Lands”. These five lands/villages are called Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Cinque Terre is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is visited annually by 2.5 million tourists.
On October 25, 2011, torrential rain and massive flooding occurred in Cinque Terre. Monterosso and Vernazza, two of the five lands, were devastated by these floods. The streets became a trough of 13 feet of mud, rocks, cars, boats and other debris. All the street level businesses were totally destroyed. Four people were swept away. The damage in Monterosso and Vernazza alone totalled over €150 million. Neither of the towns had flood insurance because mudslides had not occurred in the area since 1864.
Students for Cinque Terre was formed in response to this catastrophe. Students for Cinque Terre is the ofďŹ cial student movement of Save Vernazza non-proďŹ t. Students for Cinque Terre (S5T) is an organization for students to help raise awareness and funds for the villages in Cinque Terre. S5T strives to help rebuild & restore the Cinque Terre & preserve its territory for future generations. The villages of Cinque Terre have made great progress in their recovery and rebuilding. We applaud the hardworking locals, the dedicated non-proďŹ t Save Vernazza, and the support from travelers and visitors from all over the world!
However, there are still steps to be taken for future flood prevention. As Rick Steves states in his Cinque Terre Flood report “What Flood?”... The main streets and piazzas in Vernazza and Monterosso have been dug out and cleaned up. Most all the shops and businesses are re-opened. “Today it’s easy for a visitor to have the impression that [the flood] never happened.” said Steves. A place one can still see scars from the flood is in the cliffs. The locals are still working on rebuilding the terraces, trails, and bridges in the cliffs. Since the flooding in October 2011, Cinque Terre is in danger of worse floods in the future. Rebuilding the terraces, trails, and bridges in the cliffs is necessary to sustain and preserve the territory for future generations. *
The oods of October 25th, 2011 were highly debilitating to the Cinque Terre region but one thing is certain: This devastation has revealed that Cinque Terre is highly cherished world-wide. With international support these towns have made tremendous progress in their recovery. In the words of Michele Lilley from Save Vernazza:
“WE HAVE MOVED MOUNTAINS, LITERALLY, WITH THE HELP OF THE WORLD.”
STUDENTS FOR CINQUE TERRE: www.studentsforcinqueterre.com info@studentsforcinqueterre.com facebook.com/studentsforcinqueterre twitter.com/studentsfor5T