They say animals can sense an ill-omen beforehand. They are often the first ones to raise an alarm in any adverse situation. Well, this couple from northern Italy would agree that owning a pet was the best decision they have ever made. Claudio Piana and his wife Sabrina Pellegrini were the lucky ones who were saved by their cats when a violent storm triggered a landslide.
The couple was fast asleep when Sabrina heard their cats Simba and Mose making loud noises downstairs. She was woken up by their frantic mews and the chaos that the cats created. When she went to check on them, she saw them playing with a piece of plaster that fell off from the ceiling. She was quick enough to notice the cracks in the walls, Mail Online reported.
“My wife got up because Simba and Mose, our cats, were making a noise and woke us up,” Piani told the paper. “She realized they were playing with a piece of plaster which had just fallen off the ceiling. Then we saw cracks opening in the walls,” said Claudio.
The couple was unaware that a massive storm had triggered a landslide and had damaged their house’s foundation while they were in bed. According to Fox News, the severe weather pounding northern Italy had forced dozens to evacuate from their homes. The overflowing rivers also washed away a bridge, setting off landslides.
#22ottobre 17:00, prosegue il lavoro degli oltre 300 #vigilidelfuoco in azione per contrastare i danni del #maltempo nel Nord Italia: dalla notte svolti 650 interventi in #Lombardia, 570 in #Piemonte, 270 in #Liguria pic.twitter.com/0qfu7eQH1F
— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) October 22, 2019
“My brother then called and said ‘Claudio, your house has collapsed’,” Claudio said. The couple immediately rushed out to the car but got trapped in a sea of mud. They were eventually rescued by firefighters.
Their house was reduced to dust. The couple were also advised against getting inside the house to retrieve their belongings as it was too dangerous to go back. “Now we have nothing. The firefighters said we can never go back into the house, it’s too dangerous. At least Simba and Mose survived,” he added.
The cats helped the couple escape the collapsing home. Well, there’s another reason why owning a pet is the best thing to do.