Trying Out Their Brand Name Boots During Acqua Alta in Venice
I have been exposed to floods when I was growing up. These are never pleasant events since the floods that I have experienced are always caused by typhoons. Sometimes, there doesn’t even need to be any typhoon for it to flood, if the rain is intense enough and it is sustained for a period of time, the drainage system is overwhelmed and you get flooding. I am also aware that flood always damages property, so they are never a good thing. Here in Venice, the flooding you may see in the news every now and then are caused by the tides. These especially high tides are called the Acqua Alta or high water.
Water Seeping Through the Ground During Acqua Alta in Venice
A combination of factors contribute to the high tides of Venice, the Adriatic Sea itself has higher tides than the Mediterranean sea. Growing up we learned that the moon causes the tides. When the moon is closest to the earth and it combined with the natural cycle of the Adriatic to make tides even higher. Add that the particular shape of the lagoon makes the tides in Venice particularly bad. I was tempted to say that global warming is to be blamed for these tides, but it seems the acqua alta has been happening for centuries. It might be possible that it is being exacerbated by global warming.
Visitors Walking on Elevated Platforms at the Piazza San Marco During Acqua Alta
I was under the impression that the water was coming mainly from the lagoon itself, and I mean from the area where the boats are. But upon closer inspection of the Piazza San Marco stones, you can see lagoon water seeping through the gaps in the stones. It isn’t very strong, but you can see it. How do you stop a flood which comes from under your feet? Well, there is already a massive engineering project underway to hopefully mitigate the worst of the acqua alta. Whimsically called the MOSE project, MOSE is the Italian for the project’s name, and also for Moses who is known for parting the Red Sea in the Old Testament. It is an expensive but interesting effort. It calls for floatable “gates” that will rise with the incoming tide and hopefully block the rest of the water. It will be completed in the next few years, hopefully it would help reduce the incidences of acqua alta.
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