<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/27/southern-europe-north-africa-count-heavy-cost-wildfires>
"After more than a week of fierce wildfires, once again southern Europe is
counting the heavy costs to livelihoods and its environment, as the extreme
heat recedes and temperatures drop by up to 10C.
In Italy, at least eight people have died as two extreme weather events have
divided the country with wildfires in the south and violent storms in the
north.
An 88-year-old woman was reported to have died on Tuesday in San Martino delle
Scale, a few miles from Palermo, Sicily, after disruption caused by the fires
prevented emergency services from reaching her in time. In the afternoon, the
bodies of two people, aged about 75 and 77, were found in a house hit by a
wildfire in Cinisi, near the airport of the Sicilian capital.
Italian firefighters said they tackled nearly 1,400 fires between Sunday and
Tuesday, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria, the southern mainland
region where a bedridden 98-year-old man was killed as fire consumed his home.
According to an initial estimate made by the regional civil protection agency,
the fires that have devastated Sicily in recent days have caused more than €60m
(£51m) worth of damage.
Damage to agriculture caused by fires and the intense heatwave amounted to
about €200m, as quantified by the provincial Agriculture Inspectorates.
According to local authorities, more than 693 hectares (1,712 acres) of
woodland on the island have been totally destroyed.
In the north of Italy, storms in Lombardy claimed four lives, including that of
a 16-year-old girl who was killed during a camping trip in Cedelogo when a tree
fell on her tent. A 58-year-old woman died after being crushed by a tree in
Monza, and a couple, both aged 19, died after the driver lost control of their
car on a slippery road in Varese."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
