The southern European nation is particularly exposed to the dangers of mudslides as 75 percent of its territory is mountainous and there is a high level of clay in the soil.

Aside from warning the population, local authorities seem powerless to do anything.

The north-eastern Udine province was the first to fall foul of the landslide season when vicious storms battered the area on August 29, leaving two dead and up to one million euros (dollars) in damages.

"After a summer of drought, we know that this can happen. We do not know where and we cannot predict them," the head of Italy's civil protection force, Guido Bertolaso said, while visiting the mud-caked valleys of Val Canale and Canal del Ferro.

"Unforturnately, these crisis situations will recur in the coming months," Bertolaso warned.

Over 400 millimetres (16 inches) of water drenched the Udine province, located near the border with Austria and Slovenia, in just six hours. The area usually registers an average annual rainful of 2,000 millimetres.

The province was declared a natural disaster area.

Italian weather experts contacted by AFP say it is difficult to prevent such disasters.

"The only way to stave off tragedies linked to rain is to greatly improve the alert system," climate specialist Giampiero Maracchi explained.

Local populations must be told what to do during a mudslide, such as avoiding bridges and seeking refuge on the upper floors of buildings, Maracchi said.

Hoever Paolo Canutti, professor of applied geology in the central city of Florence, warned that landslides were difficult to predict.

"I don't want to give a catastrophic outlook but the risks just cannot be localised," said Canutti who is also a member of the national defence group against hydro-geological catastrophes.

Changes could be made in the vegetation to reinforce the earth's natural defences but that would trigger fierce opposition from the powerful agricultural sector, particularly wine producers, Canutti continued.

The professor also suggested reshaping dangerous terrain, installing protective netting and raising bridges crossing rivers that are susceptible to flooding.

"But after the heat wave, it would take too much time to stabilise the terrain and it wouldn't be in line with the risks," Canutti admitted.

Cesare Landrini, head of the hydro-geological department of Italy's civil protection unit in Rome, insisted that terrain re-modelling would be too expensive.

"It would cost millions and millions of euros," Landrini protested.

"The problem is not that it rains a lot but where the rain it falls: 230 millimetres of water on Mont Blanc (Europe's highest peak) is not a problem, 300 millimetres in a built-up zone and its a flood," he said.

"Italy is covered by small deep, narrow valleys where the risks of a landslide are bigger," the expert explained.

A map of high-risk landslide areas was drawn up in Italy after a particularly deadly mudslide swamped Sarno in the southern region of Naples, killing 168 people in May 1998.

About 3,000 administrative areas out of some 8,000 in Italy are listed as a "zone R4", a classification that indicates a maximum risk of loss of human life.

TERRA.WIRE