Displaying items by tag: Sicily

An official In Catania, Sicily, called the situation ‘very critical’. Streets are completely flooded, and a red alert - the highest level warning - has been issued for flooding in northeast Sicily and the southwest region of Calabria. A depression on the Mediterranean is causing disturbed weather conditions in southern Italy. Over two feet of rain fell in half a day - never seen before. While storms continue, a Medicane (rare Mediterranean hurricane producing 5 metre waves) meanders south, with 150mm of rain predicted for Friday with localized areas receiving higher amounts. Schools and businesses are closed, and people are advised to stay indoors and banned from areas prone to landslides. Fire and rescue have had hundreds of callouts in one day. See alsowww.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59048809

Saaremaa island, off the coast of Estonia, has been labelled by locals as ‘corona island’ after becoming a hotspot for the virus and being placed into strict quarantine. The first Covid-19 cases on Saaremaa began in March, after a sports event was held there with a team from Italy. Now health officials estimate that half of the island's population have contracted the virus. An overcrowded refugee camp on Chios had reports of an Iraqi asylum seeker dying after being cleared of having coronavirus. This caused riots and widespread damage by fire, leaving hundreds of people homeless. Many still believe she died of Covid-19. Sicily’s health services are stretched because of coronavirus, and 156 migrants on a German rescue ship were refused entry to its western coast. They had to be transferred to another vessel and quarantined.

An investigation has been launched by the Catholic Church after two missionary nuns became pregnant whilst working in Africa. One of the nuns, a mother superior, aged 34, only realised she was pregnant when she visited the hospital, complaining of stomach pains. The two women are nuns in Sicily, but belong to separate orders and are expecting children despite their vows of chastity, causing ‘consternation at this news’. They are believed to be originally from Africa and were posted to their home continent as part of their charity missions. They have now returned to Italy to prepare for the births of their children.

Mount Etna volcano is restless, with small earthquakes and steam emissions continuing for six days. Aerial footage by emergency services has revealed the scale of the damage from the two earthquakes (4.3 and 4.8 magnitude) which injured 28 people and left 600 homeless across a broad area near Catania, one of the most densely populated metropolitan districts in Sicily. More lava was being spewed out on 1 January: see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E42VCLuJC4I Strong gas and dense ash emissions have been rising, prompting frightened villagers to flee their homes. Italy's civil protection officials said that the quakes were part of a swarm of 1,000 tremors, most of them barely perceptible, that are linked to Etna's ongoing recent eruption.