Severe weather warning on Ischia: more than 1000 people to be evacuated Severe weather warning on Ischia: more than 1000 people to be evacuated

More than 1,000 people on the island of Ischia have been asked to leave their homes due to a new storm warning. The evacuations were to begin at 4 p.m. Friday, officials said. Ischia has recently been hit by violent landslides.

People in the hardest hit municipality of Casamicciola are being housed in hotels or sports halls, it was said. Eleven people died in Casamicciola as a result of last weekend’s storms, and one woman is missing. Special Commissioner Giovanni Legnini made it clear that no one will be forced to leave their home. But he hoped residents would see reason.

Civil Protection classified the hazard as yellow, not orange or red, the two highest levels of warning. However, the new rainfall could again trigger landslides in areas where huge amounts of mud and water had recently poured through residential areas. “The evacuations are a precautionary measure,” said Italo Giulivo of the civil protection of the Campania region.

On Thursday, the numerous emergency services on Ischia found three of the four missing dead. The death toll from last weekend’s storms, which caused landslides and flooding, has risen to eleven. It was suspected that a woman was lying under the mud masses. (sda/dpa)