For days, the 25,000 residents of Niscem, in southern Sicily, have been living in fear of a complete urban collapse after a massive landslide turned the town into a danger zone. Following torrential rains caused by Hurricane Harry, on January 25, an entire section of the hillside on which the town lies collapsed, creating a chasm about 25 meters deep and nearly 4 kilometers long. Entire streets have collapsed, vehicles have been destroyed and large segments of urban infrastructure have been flooded or disappeared under the unstable ground. Dozens of houses now “hang” over the edge of the cliff, as the ground continues to subside hour by hour, increasing the risk of further collapses. Authorities have evacuated more than 1,600 people, while entire parts of the historic center of the city have been put in a red zone. Also at risk are 17th-century churches, which, according to experts, could collapse at any moment.

“Everything happened in a matter of minutes,” says Salvatrice Disca, 70, a resident of the evacuated area. “The electricity went out and a little later the police knocked on the door. They told us to leave immediately, to take only the essentials. For days we didn’t even have a change of clothes.”

Most of those evacuated have taken shelter with relatives, while the elderly have been transferred to nursing homes. Some families have temporarily settled in small hotels. Outside the red zone, firefighters have set up a tent, where residents, accompanied by rescue teams, are allowed to take personal belongings from their homes for a few minutes.


With the permission of the authorities, The Guardian newspaper accompanied fire crews inside the restricted area. Among the buildings that will be abandoned forever is the popular pizzeria “A Barunissa”. Its owner, Benedetta Ragusa, 41, said she had only a few minutes to save the equipment. “It’s over. We’ve lost everything,” she declared.

The risk remains high. Last week, a three-story building fell from the cliff’s edge and collapsed after hanging for six days. The city’s streets are deserted and Niscemi resembles a ghost town. Another serious concern is the Marciano Library, located on the cliff’s edge, which is in danger of collapsing. Its basement houses more than 4,000 rare books, including pre-1830 editions on Sicilian history. The library is located in a “black zone,” where even firefighters are prohibited from entering, leaving the fate of the collection and the surrounding residents uncertain.

“People are traumatized,” Davide Cascio, a volunteer with the charity Outside, told the Guardian. “For them, these houses were their whole lives. There is anger and despair, because many believe this disaster could have been avoided.” This is the third time Niscemi has been hit by major landslides. The area also collapsed in 1790 and again in 1997, forcing mass evacuations. Despite the history, many of the buildings were built in the decades after World War II, often without full risk assessments.


The Gela prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into negligence. Chief prosecutor Salvatore Vella said satellite images were being examined and hearings would be held. "No one will escape scrutiny," he said. Experts stress that what happened in Niscemi is not an isolated case. According to Istat, around 15% of new construction in Italy is illegal, while the environmental group Legambiente reports over 17,000 major landslides over the past century, with around 6,000 fatalities.

Professor Christian Mulder, a climate change expert at the University of Catania, warned that the combination of uncontrolled urbanisation and extreme weather is making the situation irreversible. "These storms are dumping a year's worth of rain in a matter of hours. Warmer seas are fuelling extreme events like Hurricane Harry."

In 2025 alone, Sicily was hit by 45 extreme weather events, while the damage from Hurricane Harry is estimated at around 2 billion euros.

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