Premier Giorgia Meloni on Monday returned to Niscemi, the Sicilian town hit by a dramatic landslide last month, and other parts of the region hit by Cyclone Harry, which also wreaked havoc in Calabria and Sardinia.Meloni, who also visited the area on January 28, conducted a reconnaissance tour with Civil Protection Chief Fabio Ciciliano.The landslide destroyed some homes and left others perilously perched on the precipice of a cliff, meaning over 1,500 people had to be evacuated.The landslide continued after the initial earthfall and Ciciliano reported that the hill Niscemi lies on is slowly sliding towards the plain where the city of Gela is.It will not be possible for the owners to ever return to the homes that are in the most dangerous areas.The premier said Niscemi would get 150 million euros in funding for the reconstruction effort.”Niscemi is the most closely monitored municipality in Europe,” she said.”We are allocating regular and immediate funding to three areas: the demolition of buildings, safety measures, and the purchase of new properties”.She also said the government would approve a decree on Wednesday making Ciciliano the extraordinary commissioner for the reconstruction.A stone cross that had been on the edge for weeks for weeks and had come to symbolize hope and fortitude before falling off the cliff was recovered by police and firefighters on Sunday.The landslide came after days of the violent storms brought last week by Cyclone Harry
which caused over two billion euros of damage in Sicily alone.
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