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Deadly storms and landslides strike Portugal, Indonesia, and Italy as risks continue to grow

Deadly storms and landslides strike Portugal, Indonesia, and Italy as risks continue to grow

by AFP Staff Writers
Lisbon Jan 28, 2026

Storm Kristin killed at least four people overnight as it barrelled through central and northern Portugal, authorities said Wednesday. It cut power to more than 850,000 homes as it swept across the country, tearing up trees and causing widespread damage. Many roads, including the main highway linking Lisbon to the country's north, and train lines were blocked by trees and debris. One person died in the Lisbon region after their car was struck by a falling tree. Three more were killed in the central district of Leiria. Heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 150 kilometres (95 miles) per hour sparked more than 3,000 weather-related incidents, according to civil protection authorities. Portugal's government called the storm an "extreme climatic event". Authorities said electricity was gradually being restored to affected zones. The Iberian country has been hit by a number of storms in recent days. One at the weekend killed a man as his car was swept away by flash floods. Indonesia landslide death toll rises to 38, dozens missing
Jakarta (AFP) Jan 28, 2026 - The death toll from a landslide in Indonesia climbed to 38 with dozens still missing, authorities said on Wednesday, days after a torrent of debris crashed through a mountain village.

Heavy rain triggered the landslide that barrelled through Pasirlangu on Saturday, wrecking dozens of homes and displacing hundreds.

A total of 38 victims had been identified by 6:30 pm (1130 GMT) on Wednesday, Ade Dian Permana, head of the Bandung Search and Rescue Agency, said in a statement.

The number of people still missing was revised down to 27, he said, from an earlier tally of 32.

Rescuers have been scouring the unstable area in Java island's West Bandung region by hand and using heavy equipment.

But they are treading carefully for fear of more landslides due to severe weather.

The navy said on Monday that 23 troops, who were training in the area ahead of a deployment to Indonesia's border with Papua New Guinea, were among those caught in the landslide.

The disaster seriously damaged more than 50 houses and displaced more than 650 people, according to local authorities.

West Java's governor Dedi Mulyadi blamed the landslide on the sprawling plantations around Pasirlangu, which is mostly used to grow vegetables, and pledged to relocate affected residents.

The government has pointed to the role forest loss played in flooding and landslides on Sumatra island late last year, which killed around 1,200 people and displaced more than 240,000.

Forests help absorb rainfall and stabilise the ground held by their roots, and their absence makes areas more prone to landslides.

Such disasters are common across the vast Indonesian archipelago during the rainy season, which typically runs from October to March.

Fear in Sicilian town as vast landslide risks widening
Niscemi, Italy (AFP) Jan 28, 2026 - Gaetano Ferrera had just a few minutes to grab belongings from his home, one of hundreds evacuated after a landslide in Sicily that experts warn could worsen due to heavy rainfall.

"Being left without anything is bad, it's bad. I've been here ever since I was a child," said Ferrera, visibly emotional as he locked the door behind him.

Ferrera and his family, including two 16-year-old daughters and elderly parents, have no idea whether they will ever be able to return.

The house sits in an area of Niscemi declared a "red zone" -- and therefore off limits -- after a four-kilometre (2.5-mile) long stretch of the hillside collapsed on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of some 1,500 people.

The town, built on unstable terrain, was battered by a powerful storm which hit southern Italy last week.

Though there were no deaths or injuries, experts say the gulf could extend -- and topple more houses -- when it rains again.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Wednesday, flying by helicopter over the gashed hillside and deep fissures in fields below.

She promised quick help, pointing to long delays in compensation from a previous large landslide in the same town in 1997.

Speaking to local officials after visiting the site, she said it still remained to be seen how many people would be "permanently displaced because the landslide is still moving".

- Landslide still active -

"We need to wait for the rains to stop and for the soil moisture to decrease", Luigi D'Angelo, the Civil Protection Agency's head of emergency management, told AFP.

He said "heavy rain" was forecast in the coming days.

Rubble from a few homes destroyed by the landslide could be seen at the bottom of the cliff, "and there's a risk that another 20 metres or so could fall, impacting other homes", he said.

The agency is using drones to monitor the red zone and satellite images to assess the speed of the landslide.

As locals watched a darkening sky, police patrolled streets empty of all but stray cats, while emergency services stood on standby on the edge of the red zone.

Niscemi, home to some 25,000 people and built on sandstone and clay, suffered a landslide in the same area nearly 30 years ago, and residents said this week's disaster had been long in the making.

Geologist Giuseppe Amato, head of water resources in Sicily for Legambiente, told AFP the landslide should serve as a warning as climate change leads to increasing weather extremes.

"Niscemi is another alarm bell... we must respond by changing our habits" and "choosing not to build in certain ways and in certain places".

"In 2025 alone, Sicily has been hit by 48 exceptional weather events", from wind and rain to extreme heat, showing the Mediterranean island is "a hot spot for climate change in all respects", he said.

According to Italy's Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), over one million Italians live in areas classed as "high or very high risk" for landslides.

- 'Land simply dropped away' -

Rosario Cona, 45, a farmhand, told AFP that on Sunday "the land simply dropped away".

"We watch houses falling, this is normality for us," he said.

Unlike 29 years ago, though, "we have to take responsibility", he said. "The time for sleepwalking is over."

As a mobile kitchen readied hot meals for evacuees, Cona said Niscemi's future was uncertain -- but he for one would never leave.

His family may not return to their home, just one row back from the cliff edge, but Cona said he would build a new one if necessary.

"I was born here, and I will die here", he said.

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