Circular gilt bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a map of Italy on which is imposed the badge of the Protezione Civile, circumscribed ‘EMERGENZA ALLUVIONE SETTEMBRE – NOVEMBRE 2000 PARTECIPAZIONE AGLI INTERVENTI DI PROTEZIONE CIVILE’; the reverse with the wreathed star of the Italian Republic inscribed ‘BENEMERENZA’ (well merited) and circumscribed ‘PRESIDENZA DEL CONSIGLIO DEI MINISTRI DIPARTIMENTO DELLA PROTEZIONE CIVILE’ (Presidency of the Council of Ministers Department of Civil Defence’; on original ribbon. The medal was created to reward members of the Civil Defence who worked in difficult and dangerous conditions in the worst floods in living memory in northwest Italy in the autumn of 2000. The Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy were worst affected as rivers throughout the area broke their banks causing not only extensive flooding but also landslides that destroyed buildings, roads, railway and bridges, resulting in many towns and villages being cut off without power or clean water. More than 20,000 people were evacuated and at least 20 lost their lives.
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