Road to Cogne won't be open for a month - Musumeci

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 2 - Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said Tuesday that it will not be possible to reopen the regional highlight to the town of Cogne for at least a month after the torrential rain that caused massive flooding and mudslides in the Aosta Valley and Piedmont at the weekend.
    "That road is important, strategic and I fear it will not be possible to put it right and fit for use within a month," Musumeci told Sky television.
    Hundreds of tourists have had to be evacuated from the town on the slopes of the Gran Paradiso mountain via helicopter as the road was blocked and destroyed at several points due to mudslides and flood waters.
    The remaining 300 tourists are set to be airlifted out on Tuesday.
    "It's a disaster within the disaster because Cogne and that whole area live off seasonal tourism and this calamity arrived during a promising season," Musumeci said.
    The aqueduct that brings water to the town has been repaired but Mayor Franco Allera has advised residents to boil the water before drinking for now it as a precaution.
    Musumeci said the climate crisis means that extreme weather events like this should "no longer be considered exceptional.
    "We must get used to living with them, which means implementing a serious prevention campaign," the minister added. (ANSA).