Firefighters Survey Damage to Venice Islands After Highest Tide in 50 Years
Firefighters near Venice, Italy, took to the air on November 13 to survey damage to the island of Pellestrina, where two people had reportedly died after the area experienced its highest tide in 50 years, along with heavy flooding.
According to local media, one of the dead, Giannino Scarpa Boccolo, aged 68, was electrocuted on Tuesday, November 12, while trying to restart the electric pumps in his flooded house. Venice Mestre also reported that several fires broke out during the night due to flooding of “electric units.”
Water levels rose on Tuesday night to 1.87 meters (about six feet) in some areas, the second-highest recorded level, after a 1.94-meter tide in 1966, the city’s Twitter account said.
The city said it expected a tidal peak of 1.6 meters by 10.30 am on November 13.
Many of Venice’s landmarks, including the famous St Mark’s Square, were left submerged.
In a Twitter post, the city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, said that he would declare a state of emergency and said the flooding was caused by climate change. Credit: Vigili del Fuoco via Storyful
