Will Italy's Stromboli Island survive floods and volcanoes?

DW (English)

One of the world's most active volcanoes is erupting on the Italian island of Stromboli. But now it is also facing heavy rainfall and mudslides. People are fighting to save their homes and seeking shelter and help from the government.

Transcript

00:00Ashes and fire, that's to be expected on Stromboli, the Italian island with one of the most active

00:10volcanoes on earth.

00:16But now there's a new source of havoc.

00:19Mudslides and flooding after heavy rainfall are endangering both settlements on the island.

00:27Stromboli was love at first sight for me.

00:31It's paradise and I'm fighting to keep it that way.

00:36There is no way I'd ever leave.

00:39Domenico Taggio came here 20 years ago.

00:43But it's not clear whether he and the island's other residents can stay.

00:48Domenico's house is right next to a small stream which is usually dry.

00:54But now he's worried about his home whenever it rains.

00:57Most recently in November when a mudslide flooded his property.

01:03This used to be my garden.

01:05All the plants, the olive trees, the roses.

01:10As you can see, there's nothing left.

01:14All that work to make a beautiful garden was for nothing.

01:19In one second everything was destroyed.

01:25The stream bed, once three meters deep, is now full of debris.

01:29More rainfall poses a threat.

01:31Some villagers have already given up.

01:35A young couple used to live here.

01:37The last flood scared them so much that they moved out.

01:42The mud almost came over the wall.

01:48Stromboli has experienced several disasters in the last two years.

01:53In May 2022, almost half of the island burned up in a fire,

01:57including tree roots and plants on the slopes that protected the village from mudslides.

02:03And a powerful volcanic eruption in July 2024

02:06caused massive amounts of ash to pile up on the volcanic cone.

02:12This one was different, says Beatrice Fassi.

02:16The nature guide has studied the volcano for decades.

02:21Something has hardened the mountain surface

02:23and rainwater is now simply flowing down the slope.

02:26The ground can't absorb it anymore.

02:30Just a few days ago, she took soil samples from the volcanic cone

02:34to send to volcanologists on the mainland.

02:39This layer here is about half a centimeter thick and has solidified.

02:44When rainwater falls on this hardened layer,

02:47it can't seep into the ground and drain away.

02:50Instead, it turns into this violent torrent

02:54and rushes forcefully down to the sea through narrow stream channels.

03:00The residents already have their hands full with the lava and ash,

03:04and many of them see this latest problem as homemade.

03:07The stream channels haven't been cleaned for years.

03:11These diggers were hired to do just that.

03:14Now they've come to a standstill.

03:16There's no shortage of funding.

03:18In 2022, the government earmarked 16 million euros to protect the island.

03:23But bureaucracy is slowing things down, says Carolina Barnau,

03:27the environmental counselor for the Aeolian Islands.

03:31We're going to develop and secure all of Stromboli's 12 streams.

03:36The planning is almost complete,

03:39and a construction company will soon be commissioned to do the work.

03:43We're also going to rebuild eight roads that were destroyed by the 2022 storm.

03:53It's all taking too long for Domenico Taggio.

03:56He thinks there should be some simple rules,

03:59instead of promising money to hypothetically protect the slopes.

04:04If the administration had simply done regular maintenance work on the streams,

04:08kept the rivers clean, planted trees, and not built so much,

04:14then we probably wouldn't have this problem to begin with.

04:21For now, Domenico and his neighbors are still digging themselves out of the mud from the last storm.

04:27And every new storm brewing on the horizon could spell the next catastrophe for Stromboli.

Category

Transcript

Recommended