The May 1998 landslides in the Sarno area in Southern Italy : rethinking disaster theory.

Bibliography: p. 10-11

Spiral bound

After two continuous days of rain, at about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, 1998, the southern and southeastern sides of Mount Sarno and Pizzo Alvano (elevation 1,133 meters), astride the province of Avellino and Salerno in the Campania region of Southern Italy, began to disintegrate under the pressure of the accumulated water. By midnight the initial rivulets of dirty water had grown into a 20-foot wave of mud that roared down the slopes of the mountain and buried under its force a considerable portion of five towns with a total population of approximately 71,000. The darkness of night did not allow people to understand what was happening: hundreds were buried in the mud. Some escaped to the upper floors of their homes, only to be buried under the debris of their buildings when they too collapsed. Hundreds of automobiles were washed away like toys. During the first week after the disaster the number of people believed to have died or unaccounted for was 245, but by the third week the number was reduced to 137 dead and 18 people unaccounted for. The damage from the disaster was initially estimated in the neighborhood of 500 billion lire (approximately $300 million), but, as frequently happens with natural disasters in Italy, by the end of 1999 the estimated loss had escalated to nearly 1,000 billion lire (over $500 million). More than 50 billion lire will be needed to rebuild or repair public buildings alone (hospitals, schools, churches)