People in the hardest-hit municipality of Casamicciola, where eleven people died and one woman is still missing because of last weekend’s storms, are being housed in hotels or sports halls. Special Commissioner Giovanni Legnini made it clear that no one will be forced to leave their home. But he hoped residents would see reason.
“The evacuations are a precautionary measure”
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.
Eleven people died and a woman is still missing
After heavy rainfall, there was a landslide in the north of the island near Naples last Saturday. Masses of mud and rubble devastated the small town of Casamicciola Terme, destroying several houses and tearing cars into the sea. 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.
According to a civil defense representative, meteorologists expect 40 to 50 millimeters of rain on Friday. On the day of the landslide, about 100 millimeters had fallen here. Experts say last week’s disaster was caused by a fatal mix of deforestation, overdevelopment and lack of prevention and maintenance.
(SDA)