Italy: Palermo Airport Shut Down While 7 Deaths Recorded Due to Wildfires & Storms
Palermo Airport in Sicily shut down its activities between Monday evening and Tuesday noon due to a fire in the nearby perimeter threatening the airport.
According to Aviation 24, Sirocco winds have reached closer to the airport, leaving some passengers unable to enter or leave the terminal building due to the smoke and fire spreading, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Most of the traffic on the road is still not allowed, and trains might also encounter restrictions or delays, while several flights have already been cancelled.
On Monday, Palermo recorded a 47-celsius-degree temperature, making it the hottest day ever recorded in the city, with major damage to houses being reported.
Storms and wildfires in Italy have caused seven casualties while hundreds are being evacuated from their homes.
More specifically, wildfires in southern Italy have caused three people to be dead, as they weren’t able to leave the danger zone on time, while another four people died due to the storms that happened in the northern part of the country, including a 16-year-old that was on a camping trip, with the heavy rain causing for a tree to fall on her tent.
“We have never seen anything like it. We were surrounded by fire. We could not go anywhere. We spent the night in the square. These were terrible moments,” a San Martino delle Scale resident told Italy’s Ansa news agency, the Guardian reports.
In addition, hotels across the city reported that the number of hospitalised people and those seeking help due to heat-related illnesses had increased significantly in the last 24 hours. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated as the smoke made the air unbreathable, while hundreds of others sought help in medical centres for smoke inhalation.
The damages weather has caused severe damage among Italians, as many of them lost their houses due to the fire, while Santa Maria di Gesu, a church of the convent more than six-century old, located near Palermo, was also hit by fires.
The extreme heat in Europe has impacted not only Italy by also Greece, as recently it was reported that a fire had started on Rhodes island, causing panic among tourists as well as residents.
Similarly, thousands of people had been evacuated from their homes and accommodations in Rhodes after wildfires started spreading uncontrollably. More than 3,500 people have been evacuated by sea and land to safety, while another 1,200 will be evacuated from the nearby villages of Pefki, Kalathos and Lindos.
