According to the European times, affected by the bad weather in recent days, Venice, Italy, is suffering the largest flood damage in half a century. The flood has raised the water level at high tide, 80% of Venice is underwater, and the city has entered a 'state of emergency'. Affected by the seasonal spring tide, the news of "flooded" Venice will appear every year.
For thousands of years, Venice, known as the 'Pearl of the Adriatic Sea', has prospered because of water, but now it is in danger of being flooded. Why did Venice fall into the present situation and what did it do to fight the future of 'complete disappearance'?
The spring tide flooded Venice again, and the water level reached a record
World cultural heritage, Italy's' water city 'Venice is famous for canals, gondola water buses, and magnificent palaces and churches. The city is often flooded from October to December every year, but the recent flood is particularly serious.
The water level in Venice rose to 187 cm on the evening of the 12th, the second highest level in the city's history, ansa news agency reported. In November 1966, Venice had a high tide of 193cm, and 5000 residents in the city were homeless.
On the 13th, a new wave of tide came again and may have killed two people. On the 14th, Luigi brugnaro, mayor of Venice, announced that the city had entered a 'state of emergency' and called on everyone to mobilize to tide over the difficulties together on twitter.
It is reported that the flood was caused by the low-pressure weather in northern Italy. The low-pressure led to strong winds sweeping the whole of Italy from south to north, and poured the tide into the Venice lagoon. Many parts of Venice's historical central city were damaged by floods, and the famous St. Mark's Cathedral, Phoenix opera house and Pesaro palace were damaged. At present, all schools in Venice have been closed. About 60 ships, including the Venice water bus, were seriously damaged.
Luca ZAIA, chairman of Veneto region, said: "we are facing a doomsday destruction. It is no exaggeration to say that 80% of the cities are underwater and the losses are unimaginable." Mayor brugallo said that the impact of the flood will be as high as hundreds of millions of euros.
Who will be responsible for the annual disasters in the 'water city'?
It is also reported that Venice, built on 118 small islands and composed of 177 canals and about 350 bridges, has a low altitude. In addition, it is located on the loose stratum called 'soft soil Delta', which itself is very vulnerable to flood threat. A number of studies have shown that Venice faces the risk of being completely swallowed by the sea at the end of this century.
According to the analysis of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on climate change, three main reasons lead to the current situation of frequent flooding in Venice: first, the bottom of Venice Lagoon rises due to silt, making it easy for seawater to pour back; Second, natural gas exploitation and groundwater extraction lead to the subsidence of Venice foundation; Third, global warming leads to sea level rise.
Venice mayor brugallo attributed the flood to this. He said on twitter that the rare flood was the impact of climate change.
In addition, according to the Washington Post, brugallo said on the 11th that Moses, the unfinished water conservancy project, should also be responsible for the flood.
On November 13 local time, the Italian 'water city' Venice suffered the second worst flood on record. Mayor Luigi bruniaro deliberately declared a state of emergency, saying that the flood might cause heavy losses.
What did people do to deal with aqua Alta?
In Italian, the seasonal flood in Venice is called Aqua Alta. Every winter, the tide rises due to the influence of tide and monsoon. Generally, it will be called Aqua Alta if it exceeds 110cm.
France's Le Monde reported that in order to warn the local people, the Venetian government has set up a special website to predict the tides and publish news at a fixed time every day to predict the tide height in four periods of the day. In case of aqua Alta, the Venetian government has a complete set of early warning mechanism. The government will send free warning SMS or e-mail to local residents' mobile phones, and residents can also query water level information through the official website, social platforms and other media channels.
In addition, if the high tide water level exceeds 110cm, three hours before the high tide, the whole city of Venice will issue a flood air defense alarm. Different water levels have different alarm sounds to remind residents and tourists to pay attention to personal safety, so that businesses can prepare in advance and minimize economic losses.
The most important is the water control project code named 'Moses'. According to the plan, 79 giant lifting hinge cement plates will be built around the city, each 28 meters high, 20 meters wide and weighing 300 tons, Agence France Presse reported. When the tide rises rapidly, these cement slabs will rise to prevent the city from being flooded. However, the project has been criticized as "outdated, expensive and inefficient" and failed to be completed on time due to corruption scandals. It was accused by residents of 'Stealing 6 billion euros in vain'.
It was originally estimated that the sluice could be used for up to 100 years. However, local media said that the rust problem had occurred in the gate of the Department in less than 10 years, requiring longer maintenance time.
According to the Venice water authority, in addition to the 'Moses plan', Venice will also prevent the coastline from being eroded by means of establishing new beaches, expanding the coastline, building 'protective embankment' projects and repairing the ancient coastal protective wall. At the same time, it will try its best to restore the shape of the lake area and curb and reverse the deterioration of the environment. However, due to the development of large ports and the obstacles of giant cruise ships, these measures have achieved little.
'Venice's future is at stake. We can't live like that anymore & hellip& hellip; This also concerns our international credibility. " Mayor brugallo said. The annual flood invasion makes more and more residents choose to flee. How many people are really fighting against destiny, which determines the future of Venice.