The city of Florence, Italy, is and has been a treasure house of world famous art. Culture — books, manuscripts, prints, drawings and journals — was the lifeblood of the city. On November 4, 1966, after two days of torrential downpour, the river Arno broke its banks and enveloped the city with great force. It withdrew two days later, leaving hundreds of people dead and the city in a state of devastation.
Exceptional quantities of water from the river began flooding the city at 60 km per hour, sweeping away vehicles and trees, bursting into churches, dashing into steel-lined strong rooms and ancient palaces, carrying objects along and hurling them about. The narrow streets of the city acted as funnels increasing the speed and height of the water. Vast quantities of black and greasy oil joined the flow of mud and water, after damaging central heating oil tanks.
Officials and citizens were unprepared for the storm and the devastation it caused. The city was smothered in 6,00,000 tonnes of mud, sewage and rubble. 15,000 cars were damaged, 5,000 families were left homeless, and 6,000 shops were out of business.
Hundreds of historic libraries, archives, museums and galleries were extensively damaged in the flood. Around 14,000 movable works of art like paintings, frescoes and sculptures, and some three to four million books, manuscripts and antiquarian collections, were damaged in the flood which has had a lasting impact on Florence, economically and culturally.
Thousands of young volunteers from Italy and from all over the world came to Italy and did all they could to limit the impact of the flood. Nicknamed the ‘mud angels’, they cleared the city of refuse, mud and oil and retrieved works of art, books and other materials from flooded rooms. Experts from around the world volunteered their time and knowledge in the conservation of the materials.
Because of the fear of mould, thousands of soaked and mud-and-oil-covered books were shovelled into lorries and taken to tobacco drying kilns. On their return, those that could be handled were sorted and washed. This flood was the first incident in Italy that underlined the absolute lack of an efficient body for civil protection.
The aftermath of the flood established an international awareness on the need for preservation and conservation facilities. Gradually newer methods of conservation were devised and restoration laboratories were established.