Venice - St Marks Square under water

Lots of flooding of historical monuments, photos, etc: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50409021

Some reaction from the government: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50416306
Italy is set to declare a state of emergency in Venice after the Italian city was engulfed by 1.87m (6ft) high water levels, flooding its historic basilica and cutting power to homes.

More than 80% of the city, a Unesco world heritage site, was under water when tides were at their highest.

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the flooding as "a blow to the heart of our country".

He said the government would now act quickly to provide funds and resources.
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I tried to see how often this type of thing happens in Venice.
Seems that the last big flooding was in 1966.
On November 4, 1966, an abnormal occurrence of high tides, rain-swollen rivers and a severe sirocco wind caused the canals to rise to a height of 194 cm or 6 ft 4in.

Although Venice is known for its acque alte or high waters which often flood the streets, this flood left thousands of residents without homes and caused over six million dollars worth of damage to the various art throughout Venice, making it the worst flood in the history of the city.

After being neglected and quietly deteriorating ever since the defeat of the Venetian Republic by Napoleon about a century and a half prior, Venice was suddenly recognized as a city in urgent need of restoration.

Piazza_San_Marco_il_4_novembre_1966.jpg

St. Mark's Square
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Additional info on history of flooding in Venice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acqua_alta
 
Nod said:
I tried to see how often this type of thing happens in Venice.
Seems that the last big flooding was in 1966.


Additional info on history of flooding in Venice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acqua_alta
Click to expand...

I was reading a lengthy book about Venice last month, and flooding has been going on for centuries. Apparently the current paved St Mark's Square is about 60cm higher than originally.

Flooding is a combination of ground subsidence, wind/storm, sea-levels, and high tides. All those factors vary on time scales from weekly to decades.

Additional protective barriers have been under discussion for many decades. It has been more than 50 years since the 1966 event. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSE_Project
The MOSE project is estimated to cost €5.496 billion, up €1.3 billion from initial cost projections. Testing will commence in January 2019, and last two years; full completion and operations are now expected in 2022.
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Edit: Here is an informal record:
300px-Acqua-alta.jpg
 
Yup. Global Warming / Climate Change has been causing floods in Venice for 1500 years. Must be the CO2 from all those SUVs the barbarians used to invade the Empire.

The 4 November 1966 flood - worse than this week's - is topped by the flood of 1686, also peaked in early November of that year. There were terrible floods in 1848 and 1867, apparently.
 
Gordon_R said:
I was reading a lengthy book about Venice last month, and flooding has been going on for centuries. Apparently the current paved St Mark's Square is about 60cm higher than originally.

Flooding is a combination of ground subsidence, wind/storm, sea-levels, and high tides. All those factors vary on time scales from weekly to decades.

Additional protective barriers have been under discussion for many decades. It has been more than 50 years since the 1966 event. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSE_Project


Edit: Here is an informal record:
300px-Acqua-alta.jpg
Click to expand...
Was following MOSE a while back... hell its an impressive piece of engineering
 
Temujin said:
Was following MOSE a while back... hell its an impressive piece of engineering
Click to expand...

Question is.. is it really at the same height? Don’t they raise the city? Like from the bottom/base?
 
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