RECANATI- The priceless library and frescoes in the house of famous Italian poet have been seriously damaged in storms that lashed the Marche region last weekend, local officials say.

The storms that ravaged Recanati, the home town of Giacomo Leopardi, battered the late poet’s house with strong winds, relentless rain and hail, for over an hour on Sunday afternoon. The city was thrown into chaos with local fire services stepping in to usher queuing tourists for Leopardi’s house, to shelter from the hail that turned the streets white and the rivers of rain sweeping down the roads.

Having closed the poet’s house to visitors, the internal damage became apparent, with damage to the historic library and frescoes. A relative to the poet, Count Vanni Leopardi confirmed the extent of the damage saying “the deluge has flooded a terrace between the rooves and the water has seeped all the way through to the main floor and the first facing Silvia’s apartment, causing damage to the tempera.” This has drawn attention to the vulnerability of the historic site and the importance of providing better protection to allow it to better withstand the test of nature and time. The next step, the count has said, is to “put in to place an action plan surrounding the preservation of library that contains a number of priceless treasures.”

The extreme weather also had severe implications on Chiarino, a suburb of Recanati, where five people, including children, had to be rescued from their car to escape the floods.

As Count Vanni Leopardi said, the deluge should act as an alarm-bell to make everyone more aware of the provisions of protection that need to be put in place.