The news drifts through, fearful and frozen, from isolated villages in the mountains of Italy. I sit and watch on a device I can fit in the palm of my warm hand, in front of a fire in a well-lit room … at least there are no reports of casualties.
That was last night. Today is the news that a hotel in Abruzzo has been hit by an avalanche – 30 feared dead. A chill creeps down my spine … I read reports of the first, frantic, unheeded efforts to raise the alarm.