Posts
Italy
declares state of
emergency following
'apocalyptic' Venice floods as
PM declares the city's
devastation 'a blow to the
heart of our
country'
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Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said 'the people are suffering' as he inspected the damage in Venice
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Today his cabinet will declare a state of emergency and take on 'exceptional powers' to respond to the floods
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Conte has offered emergency funds after authorities said the damage ran to hundreds of millions of pounds
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The governor of the Veneto region said Venice was facing 'total, apocalyptic devastation' after the flooding
15 November,2019
Italy will today declare a state of emergency after floods brought carnage to Venice, flooding its historic basilica and leaving 'widespread devastation' in the city.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte described the flooding as 'a blow to the heart of our country' as he inspected the damage in Venice last night.
At a cabinet meeting today, the government in Rome will to take on 'exceptional powers' to respond to the near-record floods.
Conte has also offered emergency funds after Venice authorities said the damage ran to hundreds of millions of pounds, including millions in St Mark's Basilica alone.
Venice archbishop Francesco Moraglia said the church had suffered 'irreparable damage' and the crypt was flooded for just the second time in its history.
Although the waters have receded from their peak, St Mark's Square remained partially flooded today and warning sirens sounded once again this morning.
Still flooded: A man pulls a cart through St Mark's Square this morning, where waters have receded from their peak but where much of the plaza is still submerged and the historic St Mark's Basilica in the background has been partially flooded
Just married: A newlywed couple walk across a flooded square today with Italy set to declare a state of emergency in the city
St Mark's Square remained partially underwater today with a rose floating in the water (right) after the heavy floods
Inspection: Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte rides on a boat this morning as he surveys the flood damage in Venice
Two people sit on bistro chairs in the middle of flooded St Mark's Square while other chairs are stacked up outside a cafe
The water in St Mark's Square remained at least ankle-deep this morning with people wearing protective footwear to cross it
People take pictures in the flooded St Mark's Square this morning as water levels remained high two days after the floods
Members of the municipal police stand by St. Mark's Basilica on the the flooded St. Mark's Square this morning
People wade through the water in an alleyway in Venice today with Italy's government declaring a state of emergency
A woman gets a piggyback ride from a man in St Mark's Square, both of them wearing boots with the water level still high
People in protective footwear walk along a temporary platform to cross part of St Mark's Square on Thursday
Two people carry a piece of wooden furniture out of the flooded crypt of St Mark's Basilica where major damage is feared
People walk across a nearly-deserted St Mark's Square in Venice last night after the floodwaters receded to a few..
The basilica was closed to tourists as were many other Venice highlights including the Fenice Theatre and the Ducal Palace. Schools will also stay closed today.
Four Venetian friends who had gathered in the square, all wearing boots, said the relative quiet and lack of tourists was upside of an otherwise harrowing few days.
'We've never seen anything like it,' said Alvise, 19.
'The disaster that has struck Venice is a blow to the heart of our country,' prime minister Conte said at the scene of the flooding last night.
'The situation is dramatic... the people are suffering. It hurts to see the city so damaged, its artistic heritage threatened.'
The mayor of Venice has blamed climate change for the disaster but there was also anger among Venetians yesterday at the corruption which has held up a flood barrier project.
'We need to be resilient and adapt. We need a policy that looks at the climate through completely different eyes,' Italy's environment minister Sergio Costa said today.
High waters brought misery to local residents - stranding boats and gondolas, battering shops and hotels and leaving many of the city's squares and alleyways deep underwater.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said the city was 'on its knees' and warned of 'widespread devastation' after the tide peaked at nearly 6ft 2in on Tuesday night, second only to the record 6ft 5in set in 1966.
Luca Zaia, the premier of the Veneto region, told Italian media that the city was 'faced with total, apocalyptic devastation'.
'I'm not exaggerating - 80 per cent of the city is under water, the damage is unimaginable,' he said.
The flooded St Mark's Square is seen today, with St. Mark's Basilica (left) and the Bell Tower rising above it
People wade through water near St Mark's Square today where officials were assessing the damage to St Mark's Basilica
Gondolas are detached from the moorings and pushed on to the Riva degli Schiavoni the day after the flooding
People wearing yellow and orange waterproof footwear walk along a temporary platform near the flooded St Mark's Square
A man holds his shoes as he wades barefoot through water today after flooding which was described as 'apocalyptic'
Workers push a cart over a temporary bridge with many of Venice's streets still flooded after the intense weather
A woman with a bucket slops water out of her shop in a Venice alleyway as another man wearing boots looks on today
Stranded gondolas float on the water in Venice last night after the city suffered 'apocalyptic' damage in the floods
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte paid a visit to Venice on Wednesday evening to see for himself the devastation from near-record flooding that has inundated the city
Inside the basilica: Floodwater overruns part of the centuries-old St Mark's Basilica in the low-lying St Mark's Square
A crowd of people wade through a street in Venice with hotels and shops on either side fearing damage from the flood
Tourists lugging heavy suitcases waded in thigh-high galoshes or barefoot through the submerged alleys, as water taxi and gondola drivers baled sewage-tainted water out of their trashed vessels
A woman wearing blue protective footwear steadies herself by the side of a flooded alleyway in Venice
Wading in the water: The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, walks in the submerged St Mark's Square yesterday as Venice responds to one of the worst episodes of flooding in its history - which the mayor has blamed on climate change
A woman wears bin bags as she carries her suitcase while wading through high water yesterday
Stranded: Wind and high water brought a gondola on to the pavement in Venice, where it remained stuck yesterday
The whole of St Mark's Square is seen submerged yesterday, causing 'irreparable' damage to the historic St Mark's Basilica
A gondola rests over a barrier near a footbridge after severe flooding in the city
A Banksy artwork of a migrant child is seen partially submerged by the floodwater in Venice on Wednesday
Italian soldiers walk past a flooded cafe by the side of St Mark's Square as they help the clean-up operation in Venice
Today authorities were preparing to assess the damage to Venice's cultural treasures and infrastructure.
A few tourists braved the weather to wade through St Mark's Square today while some shopkeepers briefly opened for business.
Under the arches of the Ducal Palace, a couple from Hong Kong posed for photos and video in the chilly morning sun.
'This was planned a long time ago so we couldn't change it,' groom Jay Wong, 34, said. His bride, Sabrina Lee, 'looks cold,' he admitted.
Damage included five ferries that serve as water buses, a critical means of transportation in a city with no road or rail links except to the mainland.
Heavy rainfall across Italy, combined with high tides that were pushed into Venice by southerly winds, brought chaos to a city built on canals.
Water poured through wooden boards that shop and hotel owners have previously placed in front of doors to hold back water.
One person, a man in his 70s, was electrocuted when water entered his home on the barrier island of Pellestrina. Another fatality was also reported in the city, although it was not clear if the flood waters were directly responsible for his death.
The mayor said the floods were 'the effects of climate change' and demanded that a long-delayed barrier protection project 'must be finished soon'.
The so-called 'Moses' plan involves 78 moveable gates under the sea that can be raised to protect Venice's lagoon during high tides.
The project began in 2003 but has been plagued by corruption and rising costs and there is no completion date in sight.
In addition, a recent attempt to test part of the barrier caused worrying vibrations and engineers discovered parts had rusted.
'They've done nothing, neglected it. It doesn't work and they have stolen six billion euros. The politicians should all be put in jail,' said local Dino Perzolla, 62.
Zaia, the regional governor, told Italian TV that the barriers were almost complete, but said it was not even clear if they would work against this week's intense flooding.
Italian environment minister Sergio Costa blamed climate change and the 'tropicalisation' of violent rainfall and strong winds.
'This is what is happening more and more often in the Mediterranean,' Costa said on Facebook. 'Global warming will destroy our planet if we do not immediately reverse the direction.'
Professor Nigel Wright, an expert in flood risk management at Nottingham Trent University, said the high water levels were a 'double whammy of an extreme high tide and the low pressure from a storm raising the sea level'.
'With sea levels rising this is likely to become more and more common causing untold damage to centuries-old buildings,' he warned.
'The city has long planned for a defence system around the Venice lagoon, but such plans take a long time to plan, agree and implement,' he said.
The basilica's sixth flood in 1,200 years was its fourth in the last 20, and the vestibule of the church was inundated with water yesterday.
The flood sparked fears for the church's collection of rich mosaics and artworks, and dirty water was swirling around marble tombs in the crypt last night.
'We're talking about millions of euros worth of damage,' said Carlo Alberto Tesserin, first procurator of the Basilica, who is the president of a team responsible for managing the historic site.
'We said last year that the Basilica had aged 20 years in a high tide. It risks having aged much more than that in this one,' he said.
Venice archbishop Francesco Moraglia told a news conference that 'the Basilica is suffering structural damage because the water has risen and so it's causing irreparable damage, especially when it dries out in the lower section of the mosaics and tiling.'
In addition, the electrical system at La Fenice theatre was switched off after floodwaters entered a service area, and firefighters tackled a blaze at the Ca' Pesaro modern art gallery which was caused by a short circuit.
One of Conte's colleagues, education minister Lorenzo Fioramonti, also raised global warming as a likely cause and said 'the consequences of climate change do not allow for delay'.
The 'acqua alta,' or high waters, rose above six feet as the flood alarm sounded across Venice on Tuesday.
'It was unbelievable, the water rose so quickly,' said resident Tiziano Collarin, 59, as he surveyed the damage. 'Windows were blown out, there are those who have lost everything.'
Marina Vector, who was yesterday scooping buckets of water out of the shop she runs with her husband, said the flooding was 'apocalyptic, enough to give you goosebumps'.
'The storm was so bad it broke the marble flood barrier out front. Nothing's survived,' she said.
Amid the carnage, tourists were seen wading through flooded streets to seek shelter while St Mark's Square was submerged by three feet of water - so deep that one man even swam across it.
Venice residents have been urged to take pictures and video footage of the damage to their homes in order to claim compensation later.
At least 60 boats were damaged in the floods, according to civil protection authorities, including some pedestrian ferry boats. Three barges are said to have sunk.
Tourists with heavy suitcases were forced to wade barefoot through the submerged alleyways while gondoliers baled water out of their trashed vessel.
Two French visitors who were caught out said they had 'effectively swum' after some of the wooden platforms placed around the city overturned.
Antique pieces of furniture could be seen submerged in low-lying hotels and homes while shopkeepers slopped water out of their flooded businesses.
The head of the Venice hotel association said the damage was enormous, with many hotels losing electricity and lacking pumps to remove water.
German tourist Gabi Brueckner, 58, said the nighttime drama had been 'horrifying'.
She echoed the mayor in blaming climate change and said she feared like many people that 'it will get worse and at some point Venice will drown'.
Water taxis attempting to drop people off at the glamorous and historic hotels along the Grand Canal discovered the gangways had been washed away, and had to help passengers clamber through windows.
The overnight surge triggered several fires, including one at the International Gallery of Modern Art Ca' Pesaro, with hundreds of calls to the fire brigade.
In addition, around 150 firefighters were deployed to rescue people stranded on jetties and to recover boats broken free from their moorings.
Much of Italy has been pummelled by torrential rains in recent days with widespread flooding as a result, especially in the southern heel and toe of the country. Further bad weather is forecast for the coming days.
In Matera, this year's European Capital of Culture, rain water cascaded through the streets and inundated the city's famous cave-dwelling district. Terrifying moment high tide batters Venice hotel as city suffers severe flooding
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