The mayor of a hilltop town in Sicily has warned that “the situation is dire” after a powerful storm triggered a major landslide, leaving homes teetering on the edge of a cliff.
About 1,500 residents have been evacuated after a long section of hillside gave way near the town of Niscemi, in the south of the island.
The landslide, which began showing signs of movement on Sunday, has developed into a 4km-long front that continues to widen.
There are growing fears that the chasm could engulf parts of the town’s historic centre.
“This is a dramatic landslide,” said Massimiliano Conti, the mayor of Niscemi, in a video posted on social media. He urged residents living outside the cordoned areas to remain indoors and not to underestimate the danger.
“No one should take this lightly,” he said, adding that while there had been no injuries, several homes had been damaged.
Photographs and footage from the area show houses on the verge of collapse. Salvatore Cocina, the director general of Sicily’s civil protection authority, said on Monday evening that all homes within a 50 to 70 metre radius of the landslide were expected to collapse.
Schools remained closed on Tuesday, and a main road linking Niscemi with the coastal city of Gela has been shut.
Niscemi has a population of around 25,000. Many of those forced to leave their homes are staying with relatives, while hundreds have spent the past two nights in a local sports arena.
In an interview with La Repubblica published on Tuesday, Conti admitted that residents were frightened. He said the landslide had dropped by a further 10 metres earlier that morning.
“Aerial images were shocking, to see our Niscemi collapsing,” he said. “The situation is dire. The ground is still creaking, and the rain is making both rescue work and technical assessments more difficult.”
Conti also warned that the town risked being cut off if the situation worsened. “We are monitoring developments constantly, because things could change at any moment,” he said.
On Monday, the Italian government declared a state of emergency across southern regions hit by Cyclone Harry last week. The storm brought torrential rain and waves of up to nine metres, causing widespread damage in Sicily, Calabria and Sardinia.
Roads and coastal defences were destroyed, while several seaside resorts were swept away. The total cost of the damage is estimated at more than €1bn (£870m).
The government has allocated an initial €100m to meet the immediate needs of the worst-affected areas. The civil protection minister, Nello Musumeci, said further measures would follow to support restoration and reconstruction.
Sicily alone has suffered an estimated €740m in damage, though the island’s president, Renato Schifani, warned that the final figure could be significantly higher.
