Italian city, Venice sees the highest tide in 50 years

Resident of Venice walking on a makeshift Photo/BBC

Italian city, Venice sees the highest tide in 50 years

Parts of the Italian city of Venice have been left underwater after the highest tide in more than 50 years. Italy was hit by heavy rainfall yesterday.

The waters peaked at 1.87m (6ft), according to the tide monitoring centre. Only once since records began in 1923 has the tide been higher, reaching 1.94m in 1966.

St Mark’s Square – one of the lowest parts of the city – was one of the worst-hit areas. St Mark’s Basilica was flooded for the sixth time in 1,200 years, according to records.

Pierpaolo Campostrini, a member of St Mark’s council, said four of those floods had now occurred within the past 20 years.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said he would declare a state of disaster and warned that the flood would “leave a permanent mark”.

“The situation is dramatic. We ask the government to help us. The cost will be high. This is the result of climate change,” he said on Twitter.

Tourists and the locals were seen wade through the flooded streets of the city.

Several businesses were affected by the owners seen trying to remove their merchandise to avoid further damages.