Tourists “relax” during unusual flooding in Venice

It is customary for the beautiful canal city of Venice, in northeastern Italy, to be flooded every season during high water. But this year, the atta alta (rising water) phenomenon arrived in early August, catching the entire city off guard. This seemed unusual, as high water usually only occurs in the fall and winter.

Venice’s flooding is a combination of climate change and unusually high tides. Last fall, record-high water levels forced Venice to activate Mose, a system of dozens of sea-level risers that can prevent flooding. But the system only works when tides are above 1.3 meters, so it did nothing to help the city on the night of August 8.

Although the water level was not high enough to trigger the dike system, the “rising tide” was enough to easily flood the Piazza San Marco area – one of the lowest points in the city. Fortunately, Venice did not record any damage related to this flood, a special system of walkways was built for residents and tourists to move around. Visiting the Square was almost unobstructed, and people still leisurely enjoyed all the services that were still open. Many people even leisurely drank tea, took pictures, posed, ran happily and found interesting activities to keep this memory.

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