Rome, Europe Brief News – More than 1,000 people were evacuated from areas at risk on the Italian island of Ischia following last week’s deadly landslide.
A severe weather warning has been put in place with heavy rains expected, a government official said on Friday.
Giovanni Legnini, the special commissioner for civil protection In Ischia, said the precautionary evacuation would take place on Friday afternoon.
Those who were moved from their homes would be accommodated in hotels on the island, authorities added.
At least 11 people died on Saturday in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the small town of Casamicciola Terme. At least one person remains missing.
Among the dead are two children and a newborn baby.
Officials have blamed the disaster on unstable soils, deforestation, over development, and lack of maintenance and prevention.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the state of emergency over what she called “exceptional flood and landslide events” in a statement on Sunday.
The head of the national civil protection agency also told the Italian newspaper La Stampa that 94% of municipalities in the country are “at risk of flooding, landslides, or coastal erosion”.
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.
