Name: Claudio Meli
Age: 43
Occupation: Beekeeper
Lives with: Wife Laura (40), sons Giovanni (7) and Riccardo (5)
Lives in: The family is temporarily staying in Laura’s mother’s three-room apartment in Misilmeri, a small inland town in the northwestern province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. They used to live on the ground floor of a two-storey building on the outskirts of Palermo city, Sicily’s capital, while Claudio’s parents lived in the apartment above. His parents bought the land in 2006 and together they built the house, completing it in 2014. It was destroyed by wildfires on July 25.
Monthly household income: 970 euros ($1,051) from Laura’s income as a shop assistant in a shopping mall. It used to be 1,400 euros ($1,517) with Claudio’s enterprise, which he was forced to give up after the fires. The 2023 average salary in Italy is 1,475 euros ($1,599), but lower in Sicily – about 1,000 euros ($1,084) – one of Europe’s poorest regions.
Total expenses for the month: 772 euros ($837)