Venice Hit By Tidal Flooding

The mayor of Venice has declared state of disaster as city is hit by 'apocalyptic' floods

Venice’s mayor has declared a state of emergency after “apocalyptic” floods swept through the city, flooding its historic basilica and inundating squares and centuries-old buildings.

Walkways were turned into raging torrents, stone balustrades were shattered, boats tossed ashore and gondolas smashed against their moorings as the lagoon tide peaked at 1.87m (6ft 2ins) shortly before midnight.

It was the highest level since the record 1.94m set in 1966 but with rising water levels becoming a regular threat to the tourist jewel, city mayor Luigi Brugnaro was quick to blame climate change for the disaster.

“Venice is on its knees,” said Mr Brugnaro. “The damage will run into hundreds of millions of euros.”

“This is the result of climate change,” he said on Twitter.

The floods, accentuated by driving rains and strong winds, also ravaged areas beyond the city itself.

Venice’s huge Saint Mark’s Square, once described as Europe’s living room, was submerged by more than one metre of water, while the adjacent Saint Mark’s Basilica was flooded for the sixth time in 1,200 years – but the fourth in the last 20.

“The Basilica is suffering structural damage because the water has risen and so it’s causing irreparable damage,” said Venice Archbishop Francesco Moraglia, warning that ancient mosaics and tiling might have been badly degraded.

More than 80 per cent of Venice was under water when the tide was at its highest and although levels had receded by daybreak further bad weather was expected later in the week, with a series of storms lining up to batter Italy.

A flood barrier was designed in 1984 to protect Venice from high tides, but the multi-billion euro project, known as Mose, has been plagued problems.

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