Italy’s top disaster official warned on Monday that the entire country was “at risk” after a deadly mudslide on the island of Ischia on Saturday killed eight people and triggered a political battle.
According to Italy’s Department of Civil Protection, at least 94 percent of Italian municipalities are at risk of floods, landslides and coastal erosion. The head of the department, Fabrizio Curcio, said: “The whole of Italy is at risk.” an interview Published on Monday with La Stampa.
was a disaster informed of Ischia will see its worst in 20 years, with 126 millimeters of rain in six hours. Four people are still missing.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet declared a state of emergency on the island and approved €2 million for post-landslip solutions.
Critics say the government’s move has come too late and argue politicians’ response to the disaster has been hypocritical, pointing to an apology signed by the 5Star-League government in 2018, despite Italy’s hydrogeological instability in the country. Illegal constructions got relief.
Turin’s mayor Stefano Lo Russo said, “It is sad to see the statements of politicians responsible for the amnesty initiated by the 5 Star-League government in 2018, which is also supported by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.”
“It is even more sad that political forces in this country deal with hydrogeological instability only when this type of tragedy occurs,” he added.
Far-right League leader Matteo Salvini – currently Italy’s minister of infrastructure and deputy prime minister at the time the amnesty was signed – dodged criticism and to plead via Twitter that it was time to “secure the country from north to south”.
The mudslide was not the only natural disaster in Italy this autumn. Eleven people died in flash floods in the central region of Marche in September after torrential rains, a program scientist Told exacerbated by climate change.