Venice has just gone through the fourth highest high tide in the past 136 years. Aqua alta, as the Venetians call these high tides, are a normal occurrence. The town has a series of signal sirens that warn the population of the impending flooding and walkways are set up to allow residents to move throughout the city. But this extreme flooding overwhelmed the normal preparations.
MSNBC.com published an excellent slide show of the event and AP reports reflected the Venetian attitude that this will shortly pass. Few locals live on the ground floors of buildings in the city since flooding is a normal event, however many shopkeepers were sure to have suffered significant damages.
Perhaps the conjunction of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter might have had something to do with this exceptional event. Combined with high winds the tides topped expectations and rose with a speed rarely seen in this city.
Some have suggested that the new barrier proposed for the entrance of the Venetian lagoon would have prevented this flooding. But whenever a Venetian resident hears about the new tide barrier, they roll their eyes. The Moses project, as some call it, isn’t expected by locals to make much difference. They shrug and move on. Venice has been through this before.
Anyone who wants to see what Venice looks like right now can click over to the Venice web cam. Since the city is one of my main stomping grounds each summer, I always like to take a peak at how the city is doing. This time, the pictures were dramatic.
