Evacuation of tourists from flood-ravaged Cogne completed

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 3 - The evacuation via helicopter of tourists stranded in Cogne after the flooding and mudslides that hit northern Italy at the weekend badly damaged the regional highway to the Aosta Valley town on the slopes of the Gran Paradiso mountain was completed on Wednesday.
    "It was a great civil protection operation involving four to five helicopters," said Mayor Franco Allera after the evacuation of 1,796 people.
    "The flights will continue, in the mornings and evenings, to transport Cogne residents working in other parts of Aosta and staff assisting the local population".
    Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said Tuesday that it will not be possible to reopen the highway for at least a month.
    "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.
    The wave of extreme weather, which claimed lives in Switzerland and France, also hit Piedmont and other parts of the Aosta Valley.
    These include the ski resort of Cervinia, where Deputy Mayor Massimo Chatrian said the damage adds up to "millions and millions".
    Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and more intense.
    Although there are many sources of the greenhouse gases that are causing global heating, the main driver is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, sales of which generate huge profits for the world's energy giants. (ANSA).