2022 Ischia landslide
  Landslide  Landslide | |
| Date | 26 November 2022 |
|---|---|
| Time | Around 03:00 IST (UTC+01:00)[1] |
| Location | Ischia, Campania, Italy |
| Coordinates | 40°45′N 13°55′E / 40.75°N 13.91°E |
| Type | Landslide |
| Deaths | 12 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 5 |
Heavy rain hit the island of Ischia, located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, causing damage to the comune of Casamicciola Terme. Twelve people were killed and five others were injured.[2]
Background[edit]
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.[3] 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.[4][5][6][7] Based on the statistics published by the Italian environmentalist association Legambiente 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 requests related to illegally built or renovated buildings ("condono edilizio").[8]
Landslide[edit]
More than 209 more evacuated from the area where the landslide occurred. The torrential rain damaged cars, buildings, and roads.[9][10] Over seventy firefighters are currently on the island searching and rescuing multiple civilians. Many worked by hand or with shovels as excavators could not be brought in immediately.[7] Electricity had been cut off in the area and about 30 families were stuck in their homes in Lacco Ameno.[11]
Victims[edit]
Twelve people were killed during the landslide,[12] including four children.[13] One victim was found dead in the immediate aftermath, six others were found dead the next day,[14] another two days later,[15] three more five days later,[16] and another ten days later.[17] 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;[18] a 31-year-old woman and her 31-year-old male partner; a 58-year-old Bulgarian woman;[19] and a 31-year-old woman.[20] Around 230 residents of the island were displaced.[21]
Response[edit]
On 27 November, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Cabinet declared a state of emergency for the area and approved €2 million in funds for recovery and rescue operations. The next day, Fabrizio Curcio 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.[3]
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.[6]
See also[edit]
- Weather of 2022
- Storm Denise – the European windstorm partially responsible for triggering the landslide
References[edit]
- ^ Brian Bushard. "Italian Landslide—Captured On Video—Leaves At Least 12 Missing In Ischia". Forbes.
- ^ "Ischia landslide: Body of young girl pulled from mud as rescue effort continues". Sky News.
- ^ a b Giordano, Elena (28 November 2022). "Italy's top disaster official: Whole country is "at risk"". POLITICO. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Ischia, frana travolge una casa, quattro morti, famiglia distrutta". pub. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ "Frana Ischia, sindaco Forio: "Abusivismo non c'entra, manca cura territorio"". Adnkronos. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ a b Giuffrida, Angela (27 November 2022). "Anger grows as illegal construction partly blamed for landslide deaths on Italian island". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ a b Camba, Gael (29 November 2022). "Four people still missing on Italian island after deadly landslide". euronews. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ D'Agata, Letizia (8 February 2018). "A proposito di condono, i numeri dell'abusivismo edilizio in Italia". AGI. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ^ "Emergency declared after deadly landslide on Italian island of Ischia". CNN. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ Pianigiani, Gaia (26 November 2022). "Landslide on Italian Island Sweeps Away Homes and Turns Roads Into Rivers of Mud". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
- ^ Giuffrida, Angela (26 November 2022). "A woman dies and 10 people missing after landslide on Italian island of Ischia". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ "Frana Casamicciola: sono tre le vittime individuate, due uomini e una donna". Rai News 24 (in Italian). 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Frana a Ischia: otto le vittime, quattro i dispersi. Polemica sull'sos inascoltato di 4 giorni prima". Ansa (in Italian). 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Tragedia Ischia, diretta. Sette morti (anche 2 bambini e un neonato), ancora cinque dispersi. Cdm stanzia 2 milioni". Il Messaggero (in Italian). 27 November 2022.
- ^ "Ischia, frana a Casamicciola: l'ottava vittima è il 15enne disperso. Pichetto: "In galera il sindaco". Salvini: "Io i sindaci li vorrei proteggere"". La Repubblica (in Italian). 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Frana a Ischia, news. Recuperati i corpi di altri tre dispersi. LIVE". Sky News 24 (in Italian). 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Ischia, trovato a Casamicciola il dodicesimo corpo: è di Maria Teresa Arcamone". Tgcom24. 6 December 2022.
- ^ "Frana Ischia: i volti e le storie delle vittime della tragedia". Napoli Today (in Italian). 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Българка е сред седемте потвърдени жертви от свлачището на остров Иския". Vesti.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Trovata la dodicesima vittima a Ischia, l'ultima dispersa era una donna di 31 anni". Agenzia Italiama. 6 December 2022.
- ^ "Recuperata l'ottava vittima di Ischia: è Michele Monti, 15 anni. Nella frana sono morti anche i fratellini". L'UNIONE SARDA.IT (in Italian). 28 November 2022.