Emergency declared after deadly landslide on Italian island of Ischia

[Omaha Steve]

Source: CNN

By Chris Liakos, Manveena Suri and Jack Guy, Updated 8:18 AM EST, Sun November 27, 2022

CNN
—
Italy has declared a state of emergency after at least one person was killed as heavy rain caused a landslide on the Italian holiday island of Ischia on Saturday.

As of Sunday morning, 10 people remain missing, eight people have been rescued and 209 more evacuated from the area where the landslide occurred, the Campania Prefecture office told CNN.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the state of emergency over what she called “exceptional flood and landslide events” in a statement on Sunday.

It provides for €2 million ($2.082 million) in aid and assistance to the local population affected by the landslide, and came into effect from Saturday, adds the statement.



Rescuers help an injured person following a landslide on the Italian holiday island of Ischia, Italy, on November 26, 2022.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/26/europe/landslide-italy-ischia-intl/index.html

[Eugene]

1. Anger grows as illegal construction partly blamed for landslide deaths on Italian island

Anger grows as illegal construction partly blamed for landslide deaths on Italian island (The Guardian)

The illegal building also meant that trees, which play an essential role as buttresses in reducing landslide risk, were torn down. Experts also say that a geological survey assessing the risks in the area was last done 20 years ago.

“This is a region predisposed to landslides,” said Micla Pennetta, a professor of geomorphology at Federico II University in Naples. “So much of the devastation in the past has influenced the current morphology of Ischia. Seismic activity also plays a part, but on top of the natural aspects we have deforestation and subsequent cementification – this reduced the capacity for water to be absorbed, enabling it to rapidly reach roads and homes, causing extreme damage.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/27/ischia-anger-construction-landslide-devastation-italian-island