&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Dramatic videos show houses tumbling down after 4km-long landslide slams Sicilian town")
An Italian town struck by a cyclone and heavy rainfall has been left with several homes on the edge of a cliff, waiting for their impending doom. A landslide washed away a four-kilometre-long area in the Sicilian town of Niscemi on Sunday, carving out a drop of 45 metres. More than 1,500 people were evacuated, which prevented any deaths or injuries. However, several homes are teetering right on the edge and will inevitably collapse. Scary photos and videos of the region show a huge drop down the hill and homes sitting above. In terrifying videos from the site shared on social media, entire houses can be seen crashing down one after the other. The mayor of the town has called the situation "dramatic". with entire neighbourhoods sliding down a hillside. The landslide has not stopped, and more houses could come falling.
Evacuations and emergency in Italy after landslide
"Houses that remained suspended were inevitably doomed to collapse, as were those closest to the landslide's summit line," Sicilian Regional Department of Civil Protection head Salvo Cocina said. "It is likely that most of these homes will never be recoverable, and new housing will have to be found." The situation has worsened since Sunday, forcing authorities to widen the red zone to 150 metres. The Italian government has allocated €100 million ($171.7 million) for emergency and relief work. A national state of emergency has been declared for Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria.
Sicilian President Renato Schifani, who is leading the emergency response, said rebuilding work will begin once the situation improves. He said it was crucial to take climate change into account while doing so. "In this work that lies ahead, we must take climate change into account: it is a moral duty to rebuild while trying to prevent similar events from having such devastating consequences as they did this time," he said in a statement.
