Bad weather in Liguria: flooding, lightning and transport disruptions

The bad weather arrived earlier than expected in Genoa and Tigullio where the first interventions by the firefighters were recorded. Arpal issued a yellow alert starting at 10am but heavy rain began to fall already at dawn. More than 100 millimeters of rain are being exceeded in two hours in the Bisagno basin of Genoa. Likewise, 103 millimeters were recorded in one hour in Chiavari.

The first floods were recorded in Val Polcevera, in via Rossini, in Rivarolo, in Certosa, and in Val Bisagno, in the Staglieno district, and the branch of the underpass of via Milano, towards via Albertazzi, was closed by the local police due to flooding. In Campomorone a tree collapsed on the main road, there were no reports of anyone involved. The electrical activity was very intense: over 37 thousand lightning strikes have fallen on Liguria since the beginning of the phenomena, more than 20 thousand on Genoa alone. The regional civil protection operations room is monitoring the evolution of the situation in the area, but no important critical issues have been reported.

In Genoa and Tigullio, railway traffic slowed down due to a train that was struck by lightning: the Frecciabianca 8601 train which left Genoa and headed for Rome was stopped in Riva Trigoso station due to the fault caused. The passengers were placed on another train to continue their journey. Delays were also reported in Genoa Brignole due to a line fault. "Intercity and regional trains - RFI communicates - can record a longer travel time of up to 80 minutes".

Several flights are departing late from Genoa airport due to weather conditions. A Ryanair flight, coming from Bucharest, was diverted to Pisa in the morning.

Railway traffic suspended in Ventimiglia, where lightning caused the station's control room to go haywire, causing the train movement to lose control. The station is blocked: no trains depart or arrive. The command and safety systems have failed and technicians are working to try to restore the situation. An initial intervention only allowed a train with passengers on board to enter the station which was now at the gates of the railway yard.

Two people were rescued from their vehicles, blocked by water in the underpasses: in Chiavari, the Fire Brigade saved the driver of a van who was trapped in via Bixio, while in Lavagna a 70-year-old man was helped out of his car by some passers-by after he had been trapped by the water.

The Municipality of Lavagna, due to the flooding affecting the underpasses of via Colombo, via Previati and via Eraldo Fico, invites citizens to pay maximum attention. The area most affected by these first storms was precisely the one between Chiavari, Lavagna and the related hinterland. Around 8 am some strong thunderstorms formed at sea, with columns of rain visible at a distance from the coast.