SNOWSTORM!

IT COULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE THIS

(Source: the Internet)

The snow was falling incessantly. Whoever was looking through the huge window in the Great Hall of the five-star Italian Alps hotel thought the scene beautiful, with white flakes covering the thick conifers on the mountain slopes. It was still mid-afternoon. The fireplace ablaze warmed the atmosphere and delicious wines from northern Italy were savoured. The chatter of voices mingled with the crackling from the fireplace. Some guests sat in armchairs reading newspapers, magazines or books, others were dozing. There were puffs scattered around the room, and those sitting on the floor were leaning against them. It was a quiet place for wealthy people.

Alice was there wondering how on earth Marcelo would return from the village at the foot of the mountain over fifty kilometres from the hotel. In this weather, the roads would be in terrible conditions. The intense cold was worrying because when the roads froze, the thin layer of ice created made the vehicles skid. Even though this all crossed her mind, she was mostly engrossed in entertaining their two children, aged four and six.

The weather was relentless. It was snowing more and more. Suddenly there was a crash, and a great deal of snow fell from the roof of the hall, falling in front of the large window. All the children ran there. The scenario was that of snow collected under the window, while part of it rolled down the mountainside. The boys chatted excitedly about that unusual scene. Alice was trying to calm them down. The manager thought that the hotel would now be isolated until the storm passed.

Alice talked to Marcelo over the mobile, explaining what had happened, advising him not to return until it stopped snowing. The children were playing 'catch' with other children in the room. Several guests decide to play cards, seated around square tables covered with traditional green felt cloths. It was a good way to pass the time since they had little else to do.

Towards the end of the afternoon, as it began to get dark, waiters entered the hall carrying baskets of bread, jam and cheese, besides hot tea in teapots and milk, along with other drinks such as beer, juices, and water, and more wine. Everyone went over to help themselves at a long table against the wall opposite the great window. Alice's children ran and screamed around people who were eating and sipping their drinks around the table. At a certain point, the mischievous boys slipped under the table and began poking at the guests' legs. Alice was forced to get underneath to grab them, but they dodged her, laughing at their prank. That was when a new rumble was heard.

The guests paid little attention to the fact, as it was probably more snow moving from the roof. Suddenly, however, there was a violent jolt and the wall opposite the large window exploded as if it had been made of cardboard, throwing tons of snow, earth, and stones into the room, crushing everything and everybody in front of it. If that was not enough, losing the support of the walls, the building of the two-story hotel next door collapsed, completely blocking the hall's exit and escape route. The hall's ceiling, receiving the full impact of the avalanche, fell on all. The avalanche continued from the top of the mountain, burying the hotel in snow and rubble so that nothing remained. Just as reminders of the disaster, there were remnants of the conifer forest scattered along the avalanche's path. Then there was complete silence.

Alice opened her eyes and saw nothing. She was in total darkness. Close to where she was, she heard a child whimper. Not understanding what had happened, she tried to get up and hit her head on something hard. She put her hand up and felt a flat, wood-like structure above her. She remembered that she was under the table when everything went dark. She must have fainted. Suddenly it came to her why she was there; she had been trying to control her children. She called out to them and, to her delight, the one who was crying answered and, soon after, the other boy also heeded her call, although he was further away.

She still did not know what had happened. Barely able to move her arms, she dug into her pockets and discovered her mobile. She switched it on and by its dim light saw that she was under the table, isolated by earth and snow in front of her. To her left was a great vacuum, and to her right, about half a meter away, was her youngest son, bleeding from a cut on his forehead. Moving her mobile a little farther, she saw that her other son was very still because his legs seemed to be trapped in some debris. Alice was terrified and unable to move from fear. Trying to calm down, she asked her son to approach her slowly and carefully. He came along, still whimpering as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe his little face.

Finally realizing what must have happened and that they were lucky in having survived, she asked the boy to go over to his brother and try freeing his legs. Alice squirmed, finally managing to lie on her stomach and, using her elbows to get around, crawled over to her children. She had to stop several times, for her movements brought snow and earth down upon her. Digging and removing the rubble with their hands, they were able to release the boy. She urged them both to follow her to the other end of the hole where they were because it was larger there. She asked them to stay close to her, trying to comfort them, explaining what most likely had happened, and to keep them quiet so as not to consume the oxygen too quickly, for soon, soon, relief would arrive and they would be rescued. The younger son cried out for his father and the older one said he must already know about the accident. Alice was not so sure of that, who would warn him? She was stunned when her son suggested that she call him over the mobile. It had not even occurred to her to do so. Turning on her mobile, she saw that there was a signal. I wonder? She thought. With trembling hands, she punched in Marcelo's number. 

Marcelo was in a snack bar in the village where he was waiting for the weather to improve. He was eating a hamburger with a friend when the mobile rang. It was still snowing heavily. It was very dark outside. Alice’s voice was hysterical, as she told him what had happened. He spoke briefly to his friend who left the snack bar for the police station across the road to alert I Carabinieri. The chief on duty rushed in, took the mobile from Marcelo's hands and spoke into it, trying to calm the girl in distress, so he could obtain precious information about the disaster.

The conclusion was that there had been an avalanche and that the hotel had been hit. The chief assured Marcelo that they knew the region perfectly, and even though it was a dark night, a rescue group would already leave by land. Marcelo and his friend wanted to go along together with the group and were accepted, provided they obeyed orders. At dawn, in better weather, according to the weather forecast, helicopters would fly over there too.

In less than fifteen minutes, the police station was teeming with soldiers and volunteers from the nearby villages accustomed to this type of action. They followed in three vehicles loaded with tools and Marcelo followed in the pickup van he had rented. They were lucky that even at low temperatures, there were no frozen tracks, just a lot of snow. They managed to make the journey in a very short time indeed.

IT COULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE THIS

(Source: the Internet)

When they reached the height of the road where there was a detour going up to the hotel, there was nothing left, no main road, no detour. Everything was covered with snow, earth, stones and bits of walls and concrete with twisted iron. They climbed the slope on foot, using powerful torchlights to light the way.

It was Marcelo who first identified an area that looked like part of the hotel. They all carried iron rods, used specifically to pierce the snow to try to find firmer structures underneath the soft surface. If it were the hotel there, it would be under a thick blanket of snow. They did not even consider moving the fallen trees because they were too heavy. Marcelo began systematically to stick the rod into the snow. At some point, he felt some resistance. He called the others who agreed that something was down there. They started digging and came on the object: it was a broken wooden door. Affixed to the door was a number, showing that it was the door of a first-floor apartment. They managed to pull it out, but underneath it was snow and the rod revealed no more resistance.

Marcelo called Alice by mobile but could not get in touch with her. Had her battery run out? He had every hope of finding his family, but time was pressing. He already knew they depended on a pocket of air to stay alive. He was sweating even though it was cold, from constantly jabbing the snow with the rod. He felt extremely anxious and tired. Despite being attentive to the task before him, his thoughts wandered, reminiscing about the best moments he had had with Alice, their courtship, their engagement, their marriage, and the birth of their children. It had been an excellent life. She and the boys did not deserve this fate.

Judging that the apartment door could have moved down with the impact of the avalanche, they went up the slope a little more always poking the snow with the iron rods. Again, they encountered a resistance and dug. They came to a twisted structure that looked like a roof and hit it with shovels. Marcelo's friend asked for silence because he thought he had heard a sound that was not an echo. He knocked again and sure enough, they heard a faint, distant sound. They called more men and everyone started working on the structure until they opened a hole. With one of the torchlights, they lit up the place. It was a room with all the furniture broken or tumbled and there were four people inside. One was lying with his leg twisted in an impossible angle and bleeding. The others seemed fine. They widened the hole and entered the room. They managed to remove the guests. The wounded man was put on a stretcher that one of the soldiers brought up. The rescued guests explained that the apartment was located on the second floor of the hotel. The chief determined who would take the wounded man and the other guests down to the cars below, as he began to discuss the situation with the rescuers.

If that apartment had borne the burden, there could be other rooms in the same situation with people inside. There was no way to access the hallway through the door that was blocked by debris. The only solution would be from above. Although he had never paid much attention to the design of the hotel, Marcelo recalled that the Great Hall was a projection to the right of the apartments when looking up the mountainside. The rescue of his family would have to be done that way too.

At that moment, Marcelo’s mobile rang. Alice was very distraught, becoming more at ease knowing that Marcelo was close by. He explained what they were doing and assured her that he would get them out of there soon. She gathered her kids closer, not only to feel safer but also because it was very cold in that place. They tried to be very quiet. She let them fall asleep. It was impossible for her to sleep. She did not suffer from claustrophobia; however, the difficulty of getting around made her feel desperate, and she thanked God that the boys slept so as not to witness her anguish.

She trembled visibly as the mobile rang again. Marcelo, his voice choked, wanted to know how they were. It was already dawning and they had searched for the hall all night long. When they were almost losing hope, a soldier stumbled, suffering a violent fall. After rescuing him, they went over to see what had caused the fall and saw that it was the tip of a rooftop. The roof was gradually removed, revealing a Dantesque scene, with shredded bodies all over the place. Digging frantically, they made it to the table. There was no way to dig around it due to heavy tree trunks that lay directly in front of it. Marcelo warned his wife that they were going to saw the table with a chainsaw and for her to be careful.

Time was running out. The boys had woken up and had difficulty breathing. Alice also felt the air thinning. With trembling hands, she tried to make contact with Marcelo with her mobile, but to no avail, as she could not turn it on. The battery had run out. Suddenly they heard the chainsaw cutting into the table near where the older son had been with his legs trapped. Alice thought she really would not have the strength to get over there. In a matter of minutes, a part of the table was removed, but the table top began to lean dangerously, almost blocking the passage through which they were to reach the opening. Alice asked the boys to go first, and that she would follow behind. Slowly, they managed to reach the aperture and were hoisted out by strong hands and soon they were being held by their father. The day was already bright and clear. Several survivors were being transported to the nearest hospitals by helicopter. The dead were placed side by side to be transported later.

Beneath the long table, Alice crawled by her elbows to the opening. Her strength was waning and her breathing harder and harder. She saw clearly that the displacement of the tabletop had left a very narrow space for her to pass. It crossed her mind that she should have been on a diet and thus thinner, she could pass more easily. She even giggled. She heard a rustle of earth moving, and she only had time to reach forward in a silent call for help, and felt a heavy blow on her head, forcing her face to the ground. Then everything went black.

Marcelo saw when the gap they had made began to cave in and fill quickly with earth and debris. He started screaming for help and several volunteers and soldiers rushed to him and everyone began to dig frantically. He would yell and gesture asking everyone to hurry up or else his wife would die. It was necessary to take him away and hold him. After a few minutes, he managed to calm down and fell to his knees, hugging his two children, looking at the scene as if he already knew what would be the outcome.

After about an hour, they were able to remove the table and dig beneath it, until they reached Alice's limp and lifeless body.