Heavy rain hit the island of

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...

, located in the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

, causing damage to the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of

Casamicciola Terme Casamicciola Terme is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located in the northern part of the Ischia Island. Geography Casamicciola Terme borders the following municipalities: Barano d'Is ...

. Twelve people were killed and five others were injured.

Background

This was the second natural disaster in Italy in the fall of 2022, after eleven people were killed by flash floods in the central region of Marche in September after torrential rains due to Storm Ana. The area has also seen disasters in the past, with an earthquake in 2017 and seventy-two landslides were registered between 2018 and 2021. On the Island there is a known problem of illegally built buildings, which have been blamed for exacerbating the damages of natural disasters. Local administrators have disputed this thesis, highlighting instead the lack of care of the land by the competent authorities. Based on the statistics published by the Italian environmentalist association

Legambiente Legambiente is an Italian environmentalist association with roots in the anti-nuclear movement that developed in Italy and throughout the Western world in the second half of the '70s. Founded in 1980 as part of the ARCI, it later became a stand-a ...

in its report "Ecomafie 2017", on the island there were 600 buildings with an active demolition order and the citizens of the Island have issued more than 27'000

Tax amnesty Tax amnesty allows taxpayers to voluntarily disclose and pay tax owing in exchange for avoiding tax evasion penalties. It is a limited-time opportunity for a specified group of taxpayers to pay a defined amount, in exchange for forgiveness of a t ...

requests related to illegally built or renovated buildings ("condono edilizio").

Landslide

More than 209 more evacuated from the area where the landslide occurred. The torrential rain damaged cars, buildings, and roads. Over seventy firefighters are currently on the island searching and recusing multiple civilians. Many worked by hand or with shovels as excavators could not be brought in immediately. Electricity had been cut off in the area and about 30 families were stuck in their homes in

Lacco Ameno Lacco Ameno ( nap, U Làcchë) is a town and ''comune'' situated in the northwest of the island of Ischia, in the Metropolitan City of Naples off the west coast of Italy. The town has a population of around 4,800 inhabitants. It is located at the ...

Victims

Twelve people were killed during the landslide, including four children. One victim was found dead in the immediate aftermath, six others were found dead the next day, another two days later, three more five days later, and another ten days later. The victims were identified as two brothers and a sister (aged 11, 16 and 6) and their parents (aged 37 and 31); a couple aged 32 and 30 and their 22-day-old baby; a 31-year-old woman and her 31-year-old male partner; a 58-year-old

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n woman; and a 31-year-old woman. Around 230 residents of the island were displaced.

Response

On 27 November,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Giorgia Meloni Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Italy since 22 October 2022, the first woman to hold this position. A member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006, she has led the ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

declared a state of emergency for the area and approved €2 million in funds for recovery and rescue operations. The next day,

Fabrizio Curcio Fabrizio Curcio (born in 1966) is an Italian government official, who served as Head of the Civil Protection from 3 April 2015 to 8 August 2017 and again since 26 February 2021. Biography Born in 1966, he graduated in engineering from the Sapien ...

the head of Italy's Civil Protection Department warned that at least 94% of Italian municipalities are at risk of flooding, landslides and coastal erosion. Some locals felt that the emergency funding is too little, too late. They raised claims that after the 2009 landslide that they were promised to make the area more secure, and that officials knew of the risks but did nothing to make the area more secure.

References

External links