The hurricane forecast hit Venice at a high tide of up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) after its flood barrier system was not activated.
Weather bulletins predicted high tide, or Avaka Alta, Increases to 1.2 m – It is less than the 1.3 m level where 78 mobile barriers of the protective system, called moz, will be activated normally.
By the time the water entered the lake on Tuesday morning, the area near St. Mark’s Basilica was completely flooded, delaying the system’s implementation.
Tides were expected to reach 1.45 meters at around 16.40 local time, although residents estimate the water level to be as high as 1.5 meters.
“The situation is really bad because we didn’t expect it,” said Matteo Secchi, who heads a working group at Venice.com. “It’s frustrating because we thought nothing more would happen with Moz, but instead we would come back to the square. That’s the old problem. ”
Carlo Alberto Tessier, editor-in-chief of St. Mark’s Basilica, told Italian media: “The situation is dire, we are dramatically underwater.”
He said the narthex of the 1,000-year-old cathedral was completely flooded and that “the inner chapels would also come down” if the water level rose.
Bars, restaurants and shops have been affected but the extent of the damage is not yet known, Sachchi said.
The long-awaited Moose system, which was given its first full examination in July, was praised for saving Venice from recent recruitment. In early October, the giant yellow flood gates of Moz, which emerged to separate the Venetian lagoon from the sea, managed to save the city during its first real-time test when its high tide rose to 1.2 meters. The operation was successfully resumed a few weeks later to prevent water up to 1.35 m from entering the lagoon.
Moz Dams was formed in 1984 and was expected to be in service in 2011, but progress was stifled by corruption scandals and cost overruns.
The Italian government came under pressure to end a bn 6bn (£ 5.4bn) project designed to save Venice from tides up to three meters after the city experienced its worst flooding since November 1966 in November last year. The floods killed two people and damaged monuments, businesses and homes an estimated b 1bn.
