10 years have passed since the earthquake swarm that hit Emilia, causing 27 victims and severe damage to historical, residential, and production buildings, especially cheese factories.
Anyone watching the news in those days surely remembers the wheels of Parmigiano destroyed under the piles of wood and concrete. Among those ruins, there was also our warehouse.
The warehouse collapse
It's May 20, 2012. During the night, the earth begins to shake.
9 days pass, what seemed like aftershocks become increasingly intense. On Tuesday, May 29, another series of earthquakes caused most of the damage.
Our warehouse had held up until then, but with the fourth strongest tremor, the already damaged structure could no longer withstand it. The second shelving unit collapsed in on itself, causing a domino effect that brought down all the others.
Despite everything, production never stopped; at that point, stopping would have meant throwing away months and months of work.
While with the help of neighbors we tried to save as much Parmigiano as possible from the remains of our structure, we began to store the new wheels in 3 different warehouses because there wasn't enough space.
It took more than a year to return to normal, with our own warehouse rebuilt from scratch. 10 years later, the effects of the earthquake are still an open wound for us, because in an instant we saw the fruits of our labor collapse, our compatriots lost their homes or loved ones.
On this day, which has been declared a national day of mourning, we take the opportunity to remember those days and commemorate those who lost much more than us.
