Record Flooding in Venice

Flooding in Venice today... A high tide that might have been greater than any since 1979 and the fourth worst in recorded history, over a meter and a half above sea level, submerged the vast majority of the city. What's more, the Nuova Venezia reports, although the tides have gone down some, the seas are still running high, over a meter above normal, so a good 15% of town remains flooded.

These pictures are from readers of La Repubblica newspaper and give you a bit of an idea what life in Venice is like during the worst high tides.

Plus is quickly building a huge collection of user-submitted videos...

Here's the flooding in historic Saint Mark's Square. As you can see, the tourists always seem to get a kick out of acqua alta, which happens often in Piazza San Marco even if almost never at these levels.

But now see how the average people have to cope...

How long can Venice last under these ever-worsening conditions? How soon before many more of us elsewhere in the world will have to face the same thing?? Check out PBS' site "The Sinking City of Venice" for more such food for thought, and in the meantime pray that the seas subside for the Venetians today.

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