A plaque honoring journalist Dante Nocentini (1922–1995) has been unveiled in Via de’ Pucci, Florence, where the ANSA office was located during the 1966 flood. The initiative was organized by the Municipality of Florence, the Order of Journalists of Tuscany and the Tuscan Press Association.
Nocentini, then ANSA’s editor for Tuscany and Umbria, was among the first journalists to alert audiences across Italy on the morning of November 4, 1966. He reported by teleprinter that the Arno had overflowed upstream in the Valdarno and that the flood wave was moving toward Florence.
After observing the rising water along the riverbanks during the night, Nocentini reached the Lungarno Acciaiuoli, opposite the National Library, where the Arno began to overflow in the city. He then ran toward Piazza Santa Croce as water started covering the streets and returned to the newsroom to file the first report.
At 9:45 a.m., an electricity failure affected almost the entire city, disrupting telephone lines and ANSA’s teleprinters. Nocentini left the office and went to Piazza San Marco to seek assistance from the Regional Military Command. From there, he resumed sending reports to Rome using a military radio link.
Florence Mayor Sara Funaro, Tuscany journalists’ association president Giampaolo Marchini, Tuscan Press Association president Sandro Bennucci, Nocentini’s relatives and former colleagues attended the plaque ceremony. Among them was Gino Capacci, a print worker who became trapped overnight in the Via de’ Pucci newsroom, where floodwater and mud rose to more than one meter.
Capacci recalled that he had returned to the office after moving his car and decided to stay rather than leave the newsroom unattended. He remained there until the following morning, later spending the night at the home of the family living above the office.
Sources: ANSA Politica.