"Like being at war" Swiss emigrants experience Cyclone Harry up close in Sicily
Gusts of wind and meter-high waves: Cyclone "Harry" caused severe damage in southern Italy - and the Swiss emigrant couple Sabina Kilchenmann and Patrick Lo Giudice were right in the middle of it all.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Cyclone Harry has hit southern Italy with wind gusts of over 100 km/h and caused extensive damage.
- The expatriate Swiss couple Sabine Kilchenmann and Patrick Lo Giudice survived the storm with little damage.
- The damage in eastern Sicily is estimated to be at least 15 million euros.
Cyclone Harry has been raging in southern Italy in recent days. Wind gusts of over 100 kilometers per hour swept over the area and waves of 6 to 7 meters hit the land. The civil defense issued a warning for large parts of Sicily, Calabria and Sardinia on Tuesday.
Sicilian emigrants Sabina Kilchenmann and Patrick Lo Giudice, who were featured in the 16th season of the SRF program "Auf und davon", also live in the danger zone. The couple bought an old restaurant in Sicily and converted it into their new home.
The couple documented how they experienced the storm on Instagram. In preparation, they secured or stowed away their garden furniture. They fixed the window front of their house with duct tape.
During the storm on Wednesday night, they still had to tremble. "I'm not easily frightened, but it was no longer comfortable. I thought it was going to tear our roof off," says Patrick in a video that they shared on Instagram the day after the storm.
But the morning after the storm, the couple were relieved. The windows held. "We are very lucky. We only have marginal damage," says Sabina in the video.
The situation is different in the surrounding communities and right by the sea. "It looks like after the war there," says Patrick. Some of the houses near the sea are completely flooded.
In fact, what remains in Sicily are mainly images of destruction. Trees have been blown down, houses destroyed. According to the local news portal taorminanews24.com, the damage in eastern Sicily is estimated at at least 15 million euros. The prefect of the region has already asked the military for help with reconstruction. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also announced that she will visit the affected areas in the next few days.
