- Title: ITALY: FAMILY FIGHT TO SAVE CROPS FROM ETNA ERUPTION.
- Date: 26th July 2001
- Summary: NEAR PEDARA, SICILY (JULY 26, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV: ASH COVERED ENTRANCE TO CORTESE FAMILY HOME 0.02 2. MV/TILT: CHILDREN PLAYING ON BICYCLE 0.07 3. LV/PAN: BLACK ASH LAYING ON GROUND OF PROPERTY 0.11 4. MV/CU/GV: SALVATORE CORTESE WORKING IN PLOT (6 SHOTS) 0.27 5. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SALVATORE CORTESE SAYING: "You can't even walk, the trees are just full of dirt, and every time there is a bit of wind, everything becomes covered." 0.43 6. GV/PAN/CU: PLOT COVERED IN BLACK ASH/ FRUIT COVERED IN ASH 0.54 7. CU/PAN: CHILDREN IN GARDEN 0.57 8. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SALVATORE CORTESE SAYING: "The other night, the bangs I heard, all the windows were shaking. It was like someone was knocking to get in." 1.13 9. GV: MARIA AMATA HANGING WASHING ON LINE 1.21 10. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) MARIA AMATA CORTESE SAYING: "I've had to wash everything again, as it was all covered in ash." 1.36 11. VARIOUS: ASH SURROUNDING VEGETABLES/ MARIA AMATA SHAKING ASH OFF VEGETABLES/ PILES OF ASH IN GARDEN/ ASH COVERING ROOF OF HOUSE (6 SHOTS) 1.59 12. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ANTONIO FURORE SAYING: "No, I'm not afraid. I've been up the road to Nicolosi - you can see the lava really well from there." 2.12 GV/CU: VARIOUS OF PROPERTY COVERED IN ASH (4 SHOTS) 2.26 13. LV: MOUNT ETNA LOOMING OVER THE CORTESE HOME ON THE SLOPES OF MOUNT ETNA 2.32 14. VARIOUS: VARIOUS BULLDOZERS WORKING TO MOVE LAVA FLOW AWAY FROM RESIDENTIAL AREAS (6 SHOTS) 3.09 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th August 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEAR PEDARA AND ON THE SLOPES OF MOUNT ETNA, SICILY, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVA1DFJIWERXIB0SNC0AQIKQJ3CO
- Story Text: For years, Salvatore Cortese has been working the land
on his family plot on the slopes of Europe's most active
volcano. For the last week, he has been battling against his
noisy neighbour in order to save his crops and safeguard his
property.
Seventy-three-year-old Salvatore Cortese hasn't been
sleeping well recently.
Mount Etna's constant thundering and tremors ripping through
the ground have kept him up at night, and he has become
exhausted cleaning the ash from his property. Everything is
covered in a layer of black ash.
The Cortese home lies some five kilometres to the east of
Mount Etna in between two of the volcano's exploding fissures.
Their crop of fruit and vegetables usually enables Salvatore
and his family to live virtually self sufficiently for five
months of the year, but this year it will be different, as
tonnes of falling black ash threatens to suffocate his plants.
"You can't even walk, the trees are just full of dirt and,
every time there is a bit of wind, everything becomes covered
Salvatore said, adding that the family has been collecting
fruit under umbrellas when small stones have been raining down
on their heads."
Salvatore still does not think it is time to leave, despite
the constant warnings of danger, although he has been
afraid.
"The other night, the bangs I heard, all the windows were
shaking. It was like someone was knocking to get in,"
Salvatore said with a deep sigh.
Maria Amata, Salvatore's 72-year-old wife, has also become
exhausted, constantly washing and re-washing her laundry which
is continuously covered in a layer of black grit.
"I've had to wash everything again, as it was all covered
in ash," Maria Amata said after putting another load of
washing on the line before shaking some of the ash off her
vegetables.
Many plants run the risk of becoming suffocated by the
ash, which never ceases to descend from the sky. Every
morning, crops have to be drenched in water in the hope that
the ash will work its way into the ground, instead of lying on
top of the plants and earth, stopping the plants from
breathing. Many people in the area are concerned that the
amounts of ash lying on the roof tops will block drainage
systems and damage the roofs once the expected rains begin in
mid August.
For eight-year-old Antonio Furore who passes most of his
time with his Cortese neighbours, life couldn't get much
better.
"No, I'm not afraid. I've been up the road to Nicolosi -
you can see the lava really well from there," he said.
All the villages in the Pedara-Nicolosi area are in danger
of being hit by lava flowing from the volcano. Bulldozers work
contstantly on the slopes of Mount Etna in an effort to stem
the flow away from residential areas lying below.
But it seems only the volcano itself is in full control of
the situation.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None