'This drought is killing us': Sicilian locals left without running water

ITV News Europe Editor James Mates met with residents of the much-loved Italian holiday destination in a severe water crisis, who are facing uncertain prospects for relief

It’s mid-October but a fiery Sicilian sun is still blasting the central piazza in the town of Caltanissetta.

A severe water crisis is gripping the region as the ongoing drought stretches into autumn.

Prolonged dry conditions have drastically reduced water reserves, leaving the city and surrounding areas on the brink of running out of water.

As temperatures remain unseasonably high, local authorities are scrambling to implement emergency measures, while residents face uncertain prospects for relief.

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ITV News spoke to local Patrizia Gelsomino, who shares a home with her elderly mother and severely disabled son, and who has been without water for over four months.

"This hot in October? Never, never, never," she said.

"Last year was warm, but this year is too much. This drought is really killing us."

Undrinkable water for washing and toilets is delivered by lorry to a cistern in Ms Gelsomino's garden.

The family are still waiting for this week's delivery, which costs them €150 (£125).

It's a similar situation for business owners, with bakery Valentina Sfalanga forced to use expensive bottled water to make bread and pastries.

She told ITV News the cost could force her to shut, and added: "I've been told if I don’t have water I’ll have to close. The bank doesn’t care that I don’t have water. It doesn’t care that I employ ten people."

Professor Paola Quattrini at Sicily’s principal university sees little sign of things improving.

"Dry seasons are longer, and when it rains it rains in a very severe and violent way, so the soils are not able to absorb water, so there is run off and soil erosion," she said.

A similar process, known as desertification, is seen often in North Africa, of once fertile areas being turned to arid wasteland.

But at the problem grips southern Europe, farmers are forced to face the realities of unreliable and unsustained rainfall.

Farmer Francesco Capizzi described the situation as being "very close" to desert-like.

"We feel the smell of the desert. For some years the weather has been slowly pushing us towards this new era," he added.

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