Currents News Staff
Venice, Italy is under a state of emergency. Flooding from an exceptionally high tide — the highest in 50 years — has inundated 45 percent of the city, forcing businesses and schools to close.
On Nov. 12, the Tide Forecasting and Reporting Center of Civil Protection said “45 percent of the city was flooded,” and added that on Tuesday evening “50 volunteers operated throughout the canals and 30 will be deployed” on Wednesday.
“After the extraordinary tide peak of 187 centimeters that struck Venice last night, the local administration will submit a request for a state of emergency,” the government in Venice announced in a statement on their website that Wednesday morning.
That high water level was the second highest in the last century, after the tide of 1966 that reached a peak of 194 centimeters. The mayor blames the recent flooding on climate change.
In the statement, the government also asked “all citizens and businesses to collect evidence to prove the damages suffered” so they can request compensation.
According to Venice Mayor spokesman Alessandro Bertasi, an elderly man has died in the Venice floods. Officials say the man died while trying to run electric pumps in his home on the island of Pellestrina.
On Wednesday, the President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, and the Director of the National Department of Civil Protection, Angelo Borrelli, is holding a press conference in the Operations Room of the Regional Civil Protection in via Paolucci in Marghera.
The local government announced that all schools would stay closed on Wednesday due to the weather conditions.