OH BROTHER! GEORGE HELPS VICTIMS OF PERFECT STORM
George Clooney has been helping residents of the floodravaged town of Laglio in Italy after the star was trapped in his Lake Como mansion with his family as the floodwaters piled mud and debris up to the level of his first-floor balcony.
Clooney, 60, posed for photographs with civil protection volunteers and with the mayor of Laglio, Roberto Pozzi. The pair were pictured together in front of a mound of dried mud as Clooney lent a hand in the clean-up operation.
“It’s much worse than I thought,” he told state-run television, speaking in English and apologising for his lack of Italian. “In Cernobbio the situation is serious and in Laglio it is even worse. I have spoken to the mayor; there will be a lot of work, it will take millions of dollars, but this city is strong. It will react and return better than before.”
The torrential rain began on Tuesday, local time, bringing debris crashing down the mountains onto the lakeside town and forcing the evacuation of 60 people from the area, 30 of them from Laglio.
Photographs of the devastation resembled a disaster movie, with the mayor warning that recovery could take years and would cost millions of euros and still leave open wounds.