[custom_adv] The “acqua alta” (high water) reached more than five feet, a record touched only five times in the history of the city.Governor Luca Zaia warned that the floods could reach levels as high as those in 1966 that struck Venice and also devastated the historic center of Florence, another of Italy's jewels. [custom_adv] Tourists and residents have been asked to wear high boots to walk the streets and water transport services were halted across the city except for water buses to outlying islands, leaving hundreds of people stranded. [custom_adv] “Residents and visitors were seen wading through waist-high water in St. Mark's Square before the mayor gave orders to evacuate the area,” The Telegraph reported. [custom_adv] “Police wearing hip waders carried a number of children to safety as stranded tourists waited to be ferried to higher ground.”Schools and hospitals have been closed and officials have advised citizens not to leave their homes. [custom_adv] An estimated 13,000 professional and amateur runners participating in the Venice Marathon were forced to trudge through ankle-deep water to complete the course in what organizers have called “the worst-ever conditions.” [custom_adv] Flooding in Venice is not infrequent, occurring when high winds push water from the lagoon into the canals. When that happens, about four times a year, the city has a complex monitoring system for measuring the ebb and flow of water. [custom_adv] When the level reaches 43 inches, the officials issue warnings and residents and businesses respond by barricading their doors with metal or wooden panels to stop water from flowing in. [custom_adv] Violent thunderstorms, small tornadoes that blew roofs off homes, and hurricane-force winds lashed Italy from Piedmont to Sicily early this week, leaving at least 11 people dead, many more injured and firefighters and other rescue workers scrambling to respond to emergency calls. [custom_adv] In Venice, ferocious winds drove the high tide to more than 61 inches, or 156 centimeters, above average sea level on Monday, one of the highest levels ever recorded, plunging much of the city under water. [custom_adv] It was the highest flood in a decade in Venice, though far short of the record, more than 76 inches above level, set in November 1966.
