Foreign Affairs

Massive Landslide Rips Through Small Town, Forces Mass Evacuation

F.conti90, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

A massive landslide ravaged a small town in Sicily after a large cyclone hit the area, causing 1,500 people to be evacuated, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Niscemi, a small town located in the southwestern part of Sicily, was affected by a landslide that spanned 2.5 miles, the AP reported. Salvatore Cocina, the director general of Sicily’s civil protection authority, stated that all homes within a 50-70 meter radius will collapse as a result of the disaster, according to The Guardian.

The Italian government declared a state of emergency in Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria on Monday following Cyclone Harry’s damage to southern parts of Italy earlier in January, the AP reported. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Niscemi on Wednesday and took a helicopter tour of the landslide affected town.

Italian civil protection chief Fabio Ciciliano stated some residents will never be able to return home due to parts of Niscemi becoming uninhabitable, according to Sky News.

“The entire hill is collapsing onto the plain of Gela,” Ciliano said, Sky News reported. “To be honest, there are houses located on the edge of the landslide that obviously can no longer be inhabited, so we need to work with the mayor to find a permanent relocation for these families.”

Niscemi was built on a hill with layers of sand and clay vulnerable to becoming permeable to heavy rainfall, according to the AP. Geologists stated this would not be the first time the town shifted due to heavy rainfall as it happened before in 1997 major landslide causing 400 people to evacuate from the area.

The Italian government has pledged to set aside €100 million to support affected areas according to a Guardian report. Sicilian regional officials. Sicilian president Renato Schifani said Sicily has likely suffered €740 million in damages at the time being and warned the final amount could be double.