sentences:  The main thoroughfares Via Garibaldi and Via Cavour were rendered impassable by the hillocks of rubble and debris that measured 5 meters (16 ft) in height.Families had become separated and a torrential downpour of rain that had begun only minutes before the earthquake added to the confusion, impeding visibility along with the darkness and thick clouds of dust.The great gas tanks at the northern end of the town blew up, entombing living survivors and the already dead.