Sicilian landslide shows how climate crisis is reshaping Mediterranean

For days, the 25,000 residents of the Sicilian town of Niscemi have been living on the edge of an abyss.

- Lorenzo Tondo NISCEMI

On 25 January, after torrential rain brought by Cyclone Harry, a landslide ripped away an entire slope of the town, creating a 4kmlong chasm. Roads collapsed, cars were swallowed and whole sections of the town's urban fabric plunged into the valley 25 metres below.

Authorities have evacuated more than 1,600 people so far. Entire sections of the historic centre are at risk, including 17th-century churches that could slide downhill at any moment.

According to geologists and environmental experts, the landslide is the latest sign of how the climate emergency is reshaping the Mediterranean, where there has been indifference to decades of flawed building policies and an outof-control model of urbanisation.

"It all happened in a matter of moments," said Salvatrice Disca.

The 70-year-old had been living in one of the homes now within the red zone designated by authorities as being at risk of collapse.