Feature: Resilient people of Norcia strive to move forward after disastrous quake

The city of Norcia, in the central Italian region of Umbria, looked silent and empty.

Only firefighters were allowed to enter the town from its two main gates, in a relentless effort to recover and protect what little has remained of ancient churches, historic buildings, and stone houses that had resisted the caprices of nature for centuries.

Sometimes, the firefighters would briefly escort a few residents and let them reach a house or a business to assess its condition or to retrieve personal belongings.

Not all houses collapsed, some were only cracked, but the extent of the damage in the city was so large that simply walking its streets was declared unsafe.

Some three weeks have past since a quake of a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale hit Norcia -- and the broader mountainous area around it -- on Oct. 30. It was the strongest seismic event to strike Italy since 1980.

Despite the long history of earthquakes marking this region, the most recent earthquake left unprecedented scars.

The whole city was evacuated and remains sealed off. Thousands were rendered homeless and most economic activities have been temporarily halted.

The 13th-century Basilica of Saint Benedict, the very symbol of Norcia, lay almost completely in ruins, only the facade and part of the apse was still standing.

Villages and hamlets around Norcia were badly affected, if not totally wiped out.

Yet, the will of people in the Umbria region to overcome the emergency and return to life as soon as possible was palpable.

"I got in today, because we are trying to reopen our business, and we needed to take measurements of the shop's old furniture," Angelo Altavilla told Xinhua as he walked out the city's southern gate of Porta Ascolana.

Altavilla, a hairdresser, explained his shop had been badly damaged: the main structure and vaults had held, but the walls showed cracks too large to think about restoration.

His house was also damaged, forcing his family to move to a camp.

"In about 10 days, we should be ready to reopen our business. We have found a new space on the ground floor of an undamaged building some 300 metres out of Norcia," Altavilla explained.

Despite his resilient attitude, the man admitted the Oct. 30 quake had been "a devastating experience."

He said his family's nerves were on edge, also because the earth kept shaking since the first 6.0-magnitude quake of Aug. 24, which struck the area and the regions of Lazio and Marche, killing 299 people.

"It takes just a few seconds to wipe everything out: your daily routine, your habits, your life," he said.

Overall, some 900 people were in tent camps set up by Italy's civil protection in Norcia and quake-affected hamlets around, according to mayor Nicola Alemanno.

"Another 1,200 residents are being accommodated in hotels across the region, while the rest of the population found place on ground floors of safe buildings, or in caravans and camping vans," the mayor said.

According to official data, over 4,000 people were assisted by the civil protection across the Umbria region, and some 1,200 firefighters were deployed in all of the areas affected by the quakes since late August, some 214 of them in Norcia alone.

The municipality of Norcia, and the interior ministry, are now focused on providing temporary housing for those sleeping in tents, also because weather conditions here can be harsh in winter.

"People now living in tents, and all those who will want to come back from the hotels, will be offered prefabricated houses," Alemanno said.

"They will consist in collective containers, each housing up to 49 people, and organized quite like hostels: one room for three people, plus common toilets and laundry spaces, a kitchen, and a canteen."

The mayor said he strongly hoped the prefabs would be ready by Christmas.

School buildings were damaged and unsafe, so one prefabricated school was inaugurated in Norcia on Oct. 14, with pupils taking classes in shifts.

Meanwhile, the local economy appeared badly affected.

Norcia had increasingly experienced a flourishing tourism industry in the last decade, thanks to its food and wine industry, its historical attractions and arts, and the beauty of its landscape.

Now, such inflow is likely to halt, at least for a while, and touristic structures in non-affected areas as far as in Perugia and Terni also registered many cancellations.

The whole sector in Umbria suffered a 60-percent decrease in reservations so far, according to an estimate by hospitality and tourism association Federalberghi.

Many entrepreneurs and farmers were struggling to survive, too.

"We had a bathroom supply business founded by my mother in 1966," Paola Fraschetti said.

"The Oct. 30 quake destroyed our main house and the offices, and damaged our two warehouses."

The three-storey house collapsed on its ground floor, and the family, including two children, was now sleeping in a caravan a few meters away from the destroyed building.

The woman admitted the company was "in a dramatic condition," with several hundred thousands of euros-worth of raw materials lost in the quake.

Nonetheless, she looked eager to clear the area as soon as possible and get the business going again.

"We are not receiving instruction (on what to do) from local authorities, that is our main difficulty now," she explained.

"With the necessary permission, we would be able to restart almost immediately with our own resources and the help of private partners." Endit