Venice floods again: St Mark's Square is swamped with water

Venice floods again: St Mark’s Square is swamped as officials warn of ‘terrible situation’ a year after city suffered a billion pounds of damage during high tides

  • Venice is flooded with water once again as officials warn of a ‘terrible situation’ a year after city was flooded
  • Bad weather caused the tide in Venice to rise and swamp St Mark’s Square and the city’s narrow streets 
  • Controversially, the MOSE, the system designed to prevent the city from flooding, has not been activated 

Venice has been flooded with water once again as officials warn of a ‘terrible situation’ a year after the city suffered a billion pounds of damage during high tides. 

Bad weather including heavy rain and high winds caused the tide in Venice to rise and flood waters reached a height of 122cm this morning. 

This is expected to rise to a maximum of 145cm later today, according to local authorities. 

A woman in a red dress on a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8, following following heavy rains and strong winds 

People walk across a flooded street on Tuesday in Venice. Bad weather including heavy rain and high winds caused the tide in Venice to rise and flood waters reached a height of 122cm this morning

A view shows a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8. Waters are expected to rise to a maximum of 145cm later today, according to local authorities

A person takes photos while standing on a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8

People walk across an arcade by a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8, following heavy rains and strong winds

Video footage taken in the city shows the iconic St Mark’s Square, or Piazza San Marco, swamped with flood water. 

Carlo Alberto Tessein, procurator of the Basilica of San Marco, described the situation as ‘terrible’ and said the water had got inside the historic building, risking damage. 

Controversially, the MOSE, the system designed to prevent the city from flooding, has not been activated. 

The city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, wrote on Twitter: ‘3.10pm… Now I’m at the Centro Maree to follow the development of the situation. Next maximum 145 cm at 16:40, due to the anomalous wind reinforcement. The MOSE system is not active.’ 

A person takes photos while standing on a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8, in Venice following a high tide ‘Alta Acqua’ event following heavy rains and strong winds

People talk photos in the middle of a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8

People walk across an shopping arcade by a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8, in Venice following a high tide ‘Alta Acqua’ event following heavy rains and strong winds

A woman clears her flooded shop on December 8, 2020 in Venice following a high tide ‘Alta Acqua’ event following heavy rains and strong winds, and the mobile gates of the MOSE Experimental Electromechanical Module that protects the city of Venice from floods, were not lifted

Twitter users below questioned why the flood gates had not been raised. 

It comes after Venice was hit by flooding three times last year – twice in November and once in December – causing a billion euros in damage. 

In November 2019, Italy declared a state of emergency after floods brought carnage to the city, flooding its historic basilica and leaving ‘widespread devastation’. 

Venice authorities said the damage last year ran to hundreds of millions of pounds, including millions in St Mark’s Basilica alone.

A man walks across an arcade by a flooded St. Mark’s Square on December 8, 2020 in Venice following a high tide ‘Alta Acqua’ event following heavy rains and strong winds, and the mobile gates of the MOSE Experimental Electromechanical Module that protects the city of Venice from floods, were not lifted

A view shows a flooded St. Mark’s Square and a luminous Christmas Tree installation by Italian artist Fabrizio Plessi on December 8

A shop owner protects water from getting in on December 8, in Venice following a high tide ‘Alta Acqua’ event following heavy rains and strong winds

A view shows a flooded St. Mark’s Square by the Doge’s Palace and a luminous Christmas Tree installation by Italian artist Fabrizio Plessi on Tuesday

Venice archbishop Francesco Moraglia said at the time that the church had suffered ‘irreparable damage’ and the crypt was flooded for just the second time in its history.

The high waters in 2019 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. 

In June this year, a quarter of Venice was submerged by a near-record high tide, at a time of year when such flooding is rare.

The flooding in summer came just two days after Italy reopened its borders to tourists in an attempt to salvage its summer season following coronavirus lockdown.

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