by InTrieste
The regional government of Friuli Venezia Giulia said Thursday it would issue a pre-alert decree ahead of a new wave of severe weather and allocate an initial €500,000 to address the immediate aftermath of flooding that struck Latisana, Lignano Sabbiadoro and other affected communities.
The announcement came after Regional Civil Protection Councilor Riccardo Riccardi visited the flooded underpass in Latisana where a woman died after becoming trapped inside her car during intense rainfall earlier in the day. Riccardi also attended an emergency briefing in the coastal resort town of Lignano Sabbiadoro, which sustained widespread flood damage.
Regional authorities expressed condolences to the victim’s family while warning that the storm system was expected to continue moving across the region. According to officials, the next weather front is forecast to affect coastal areas, the province of Gorizia and the city of Trieste, prompting authorities to raise the weather alert from yellow to orange.
The rainfall was among the heaviest recorded in the region this year. Lignano Sabbiadoro received 203 millimeters of rain in 24 hours, including 135.4 millimeters within the first three hours of the storm. Latisana recorded 177 millimeters over the same period.
Officials said the exceptional intensity of the rainfall overwhelmed infrastructure that was not designed to manage such extreme weather events.
In Lignano Sabbiadoro, flooding damaged vehicles and inundated homes and campsites. Inspections are continuing across the region as emergency crews assess the full extent of the damage and identify the most urgent recovery measures.
Regional officials said the €500,000 allocation is intended to cover immediate emergency needs and provide flexibility should additional damage emerge as the storm system progresses. They also reiterated the region’s commitment to long-term investment in flood protection and climate resilience, noting that hundreds of millions of euros have already been spent or earmarked for infrastructure designed to reduce the impact of increasingly frequent and intense weather events.
