by InTrieste
A sudden cloudburst inundated streets, halted rail traffic and forced road closures in Trieste, while a woman died after becoming trapped in her car in a flooded underpass in Latisana.
Torrential rain swept across the northeastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia on Thursday, flooding roads, disrupting rail services and bringing traffic in Trieste and neighboring Muggia to a standstill after one of the most intense downpours of the year.
The severe weather, forecast in advance by regional authorities, arrived with thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rainfall that caused widespread flooding across the region. Temperatures fell sharply after weeks of late-summer heat, dropping to about 18 degrees Celsius in Trieste.
According to measurements from the MeteoNetwork weather station in the Roiano-Scorcola district, approximately 70 millimeters of rain fell over a 10-hour period, with much of the precipitation concentrated between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.
The storm caused significant disruption to both road and rail transport. Railway services on the Venice–Trieste and Trieste–Gorizia lines were suspended after weather-related failures affected signaling equipment, leaving hundreds of passengers waiting inside Trieste’s central station, where parts of the building were also flooded.
On the city’s road network, emergency crews responded to multiple flooded streets and overflowing storm drains. In Via di Romagna, intense rainfall caused sections of the road surface to shift, lifting historic stone paving in an area already undergoing construction.
Authorities also closed a wooded stretch of Strada del Friuli between the former customs post and Salita di Contovello after a landslide, while firefighters worked to secure the area. Public bus routes 42 and 44 were diverted.
Floodwaters submerged the underpass along Viale Miramare, prompting temporary detours for bus lines 6 and 36 through Porto Vecchio. Nearby, a supermarket and its parking garage opposite the railway station were forced to close because of flooding.
Civil protection teams, firefighters and municipal crews continue emergency operations throughout the day as authorities monitore roads vulnerable to further landslides and localized flooding.
