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Venice sites under water
31/10/2004 18:06 - (SA)
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| Tourists and residents make their way through a flooded St Mark's Square in Venice on Sunday. (Luigi Costantini, AP) |
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Venice - High waters swept over Venice on Sunday, leaving
St Mark's Square and other famous locations awash and forcing tourists and residents to don rubber boots and use elevated walkways.
About 80% of the city was under water by Sunday afternoon, said Leonardo Cossutta of the city office monitoring tides.
St Mark's Square, the heart of the city and one of its lowest points, was covered by at least 40cm of water.
Some tourists took off their shoes and rolled up their trousers to walk around, residents wore rubber boots, and at least one canoed in the square.
City officials put out raised wooden walkways, but in some places the water rose above their level, the ANSA news agency said.
Cossutta said that Venice's boat public transportation suspended service for about one hour and some stores called to report water damage as a result of the flooding.
Venice is prone to periodic flooding. The government has approved a plan to install mobile barriers on the Adriatic seabed near the entrance to the Venetian lagoon to protect the city when threatened by high tides.
- AP
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