Venice ‘on Its Knees’ After Historic Floods Create State of Emergency
Two people are dead and 85 percent of the iconic city is underwater after the highest tidal flows since 1966, creating unthinkable scenes of the water’s wrath.
Pedestrians were forced to walk on raised sidewalks to navigate the flooded square in front of St. Mark’s Basilica. The central square floods almost 100 times a year, but water rarely escapes into the rest of the city.
A massive water bus was pushed up onto the sidewalk near the Paglia Bridge leading to St. Mark’s Square. Water buses are a major form of transportation in the lagoon city and all service was halted on Wednesday after high waters dislodged many of the water bus stop docks.
Floodwaters caused substantial damage to St. Mark’s Basilica. “We came within a whisker of the apocalypse,” Pierpaolo Campostrini, a member of St. Mark’s management board, said Wednesday. “The water got into the basilica, it flooded the floor, broke windows and entered the crypt.”
A woman walks her dog in the flooded city. High waters inundated 85 percent of the lagoon city, causing widespread damage to homes and businesses.
Tourists and residents draped in waterproof clothing walk along raised sidewalks beside St. Mark’s Square. The area in front of the basilica floods around 100 times a year, but the water rarely inundates the entire city.
Church workers assess the damage in a flooded wing of St. Mark’s Basilica where religious icons, souvenirs, rosaries, crucifixes and prayer cards are kept.
Tourists and residents are forced to walk through several inches of water at the base of St. Mark’s Square leading into the narrow streets of the city. The square is normally filled with tourists feeding pigeons or sitting at sidewalk cafes that have all been closed due to historical flooding.
A hotel worker navigates high water in the lobby of the flooded luxury Gritti Palace Hotel in central Venice several blocks from St. Mark’s Square. A combination of torrential winds and sirocco winds blowing northward contributed to the exceptional flooding that pushed waters far into the lagoon city.
A tourist wearing a bathing suit carries a woman while a seagull swims in the background in St. Mark’s Square after historical flooding inundated 85 percent of the city.
Flood water reached the crypt of St. Mark’s Basilica, dislodging coffins within many of the marble tombs and underground graves.
City workers place elevated sidewalks at the mouth of St. Mark’s Square after a 6 foot 2 inch tide pushed by strong winds inundated the city.
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