Homes and businesses in Venice are submerged by up to five feet of floodwater while tourists have been seen swimming in St Mark’s Square. The flooding has been caused by a combination of heavy rainfall and high tides, but some Venetians are turning their anger towards the city council and forecasters who failed to anticipate the severity of the weather.
Venice During a Previous Flood
Flooding is nothing new in Venice as the city is regularly hit by rising water levels in the lagoon between autumn and spring. As a result raised pedestrian platforms are a frequent feature on the streets. However, the current floods are believed to be among the worst since 1872, affecting 70 per cent of the city and causing difficulties as far south as Tuscany.
Many shops, restaurants and other properties are flooded prompting some owners to question the accuracy and the timing of the warnings they were given. Matelda Bottoni, who runs a jewellery store, is so accustomed to flooding she has installed an angled floor and waterproof furniture in her premises.
She asked; “How come the people from the council who put out the wooden platforms were predicting 150cm?
“Many residents and shopkeepers had gone to the mountains for the day and did not have time to rush back.”
She says that when she opened the business 10 years ago she would expect to be flooded for between 30 to 40 days a year. Today it’s not unusual for her shop to be under some degree of water for around 100 days a year.
Hotelier Matteo Secchi described how floodwaters came right up to the entrance of his hotel and that the clean-up will require extensive mopping with disinfectant.
“The British tourists don’t complain,” he added. “But the Americans can’t understand how it’s possible.”
A barrier designed to protect Venice from repeated flooding is due to be completed by 2015. Until then it appears climate change, and the city’s slow slide into the Adriatic Sea, make further extensive flooding inevitable.
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