Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged on Sunday 1 billion euros ($1.45 billion) for areas threatened by landslides, after heavy rains and mud killed at least 22 people in Sicily, Reuters reported. Berlusconi flew over the region around Messina where houses were flattened and roads washed away by a torrent of rain and mud last week. The death toll is likely to rise as 40 people are missing, while more than 500 people have been left homeless. "We had foreseen this disaster and given the alert," Berlusconi told reporters in Messina. "But the rains were even more intense than we expected. It was truly an exceptional situation," he said. He said he hoped to set up a 1-billion-euro fund for areas threatened by inundation and landslides, starting with the Messina region, where he said 63 percent of the territory presented a "hydro-geological risk." The funds would be used for protection measures such as building reinforcement and buffers against flooding. -- SPA
