Its Flood Barrier Unfinished, Venice Submerges Under a Record Tide

On Wednesday, Venice was reeling after experiencing its highest level of floodwater since 1966. High tides from the lagoon reached more than 6 feet higher than their usual level—the second-highest ever seen since records began in 1923. Two people were reported dead. Waters entered the nave of St. Mark’s Basilica and parts of the La Fenice opera house, left boats deposited on the canalside paving stones and in the middle of city streets, and surged across more than 80 percent of the city’s surface. Regional Governor Luca Zaia described a scene of “apocalyptic and total devastation.” In a tone that appeared to almost beg Italy’s central government to take the floods seriously, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro made clear in a video announcement on social media from a flooded St. Mark’s Square what he thought the culprit for the flood was: climate change.

The evidence suggests he is right. The Northern Adriatic has always been vulnerable to high water in autumn and winter, when astronomical tides are reinforced by prevailing seasonal winds. But out of the 20 highest recorded tides, five have been in the past 10 years, with one of those occurring in 2018. Along with this pattern of higher tides due to overall sea-level rise, Venice is subsiding—the city has sunk about 23 cm over the past century, a process exacerbated by erosion from cruise ship traffic. The historic city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, faces an increasingly dire situation.