Disappearances, mud torrents, buried constructions, carcasses of swept vehicles … Images of the disaster, Saturday, gives an idea of the extent of the disaster.
by Allan Kaval (Rome, correspondent)
A dozen disappeared people, mud torrents devalting from the streets, constructions buried half by alluvium under a leaded sky, crumpled carcasses of vehicles carried away in the sea: the images and the announcements that arrived on Saturday November 26 of Ischia gave a first idea of the magnitude of the disaster. At dawn, this small Italian island located off Naples was struck by violent rains which caused a devastating landslide.
While the mayor of Naples announced the discovery of the body of a woman -not yet identified -, the Italian Minister of the Interior did not confirm any death on Saturday afternoon, and declared that civil protection was still at The search for twelve people on the island. The disaster of Ischia intervened two months after deadly floods in the region of the steps, and while Italy has been faced, since the summer, with a multiplication of extreme climatic events.
It is in the locality of Casamicciola term, a spa in the north of the island, the largest in Naples bay that the landslide has started. Reports from Ischia indicate that at least hundred people were still isolated at midday, the local authorities who also invited residents not to leave their homes. Ten buildings have also collapsed according to the ANSA, the main Italian news agency.
Intensification of risks linked to climate change
While help must be transported from the continent, the bad weather that lasts makes it difficult to arrive at boats or helicopters from Naples. The surroundings of the locality of Casamicciola are also being evacuated, according to Claudio Polomba, the prefect of the big city in southern Italy. The latter also denied the declarations of the Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, who had announced, in the morning, the death of eight people.
The serious floods suffered in September in the region of the steps, on the Adriatic coast of the country, linked to unusual rains, had caused the death of ten people as well as considerable material damage. In general, Italy has been facing, for several months, an intensification of hydrological risks linked to climate change. During the summer of unprecedented droughts had had heavy consequences on the PO delta. Then the fall rains caused a series of floods and landslides.
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