Venice Acqua Alta
 

For those fodorites that are going to Venice
soon, and those interested in the high tides, look at www.venicebanana.com/eng/maree.htm the tide forcast is predicting a 117 cm flood on the morning of the 10th of November... Get your boots ready.. Richard of LaGrange Park, IL>

Richard, I just did the math, 46 inches!!!
That sounds like a disaster on the way.

The figure quoted is the height of the tide above "sea level". Every day, the tide will rise above this notionial sea level. 117 cm in Venezia is not exceptional, though some paths will be flooded for an hour or two at most. You need to check the time of high water because the tide will reach its peak at that time, then start to fall again.
In London, the tide can rise and fall by over 7 metres and there are roads in Chiswick, Richmond and Twickenham which are flooded by high tides.

- Sotto gli 80 cm. la marea è normale.

- A 120 cm. (35% della superficie invasa): disagio alto

How serious is "disagio alto"? I think I had this once so I'm nor too worried on my visit to Venice at the end of this month.

From :
http://www.venicebanana.com/eng/acqua.htm

> The wooden walk ways that can be seen around the city ensure movement around the city in the main areas up to 120 cm. (35% of the surface under water).

Yes, I had this twice. Boots would be handy.

Sounds like they need to get those gates built. I'm just fascinated to see if and how they will work. I have seen how they are SUPPOSED to work. I watched several documentaries about this sinking problem in Venice and the proposed solutions..incredibly interesting and I get torn between implimenting the proposed solution(s) or thinking, well other cities have disappeared over the centuries so maybe this was just meant to be, but the thought of that fabulous city sinking into the sea...well, how horrible would that be.

The forcast has changed. Now 10 Nov.at 09.05 maximum 132cm !

Crefloors -- I was just there three weeks ago, and I said to my fiance that while I usually agree with the school of thought "If you mess with Mother Nature -- i.e., building a city in the middle of a marsh -- you deserve what you get," but I said "Not in this case, because Venice is just TOOOO incredible to lose!!" Let's get started on those gates! :)

NYTimes said a few days ago that 80% of Venice was flooded that day - conflicts with folks in this forum that said only the precints around San Marco flood. Doesn't sound like an enjoyable experience to me. Some who poo-poo the floodgates eveer working suggest that like Venetians have done for ages, they should just build up, raise everything as the water builds up. Others say Venice is sinking under the weight of tourism!

http://www.europeforvisitors.com/ven...acqua-alta.htm

Starting on above page, the site shows about 10 photos of Venice under Acqua Alta of 31 Oct.-01 Nov.2004. "The acqua alta of Halloween, 2004 was the worst in 10 years, with water depths reaching 40 cm (16 inches) or more in the Piazza San Marco by early afternoon.". 10 Nov. may have been worse.

Sorry for the people whom live there but this is still interesting to see.

"A souvenir stand along the Riva degli Schiavoni was selling one-size-fits-all plastic boots for 10 euros; by time we reached the Piazza San Marco, both the water and the price had risen: This entrepreneur was selling identical disposable boots for 15 euros."

I get the weekly newsletter from VeniceWord.com and there was information in there about the results of a study done about the gates. It was just made public that during the entire duration of building the gates (10 years?) that no ships would be allowed into the lagoon. The consensus is that it is not acceptable and would ruin the economy beyond recovery.

Why is it that you rarely ever hear about the DURATION of these "floods" on posts like these?

Venice has been sinking for decades; the Venetians apparently cannot decide what to do about it AND act on it.

Go while you can which will be, I suspect, for many more years.

The duration of the floods is usually quite short as the tide rises and falls every 12 hours or so. That is why the floods are rarely much of a problem for tourists.

There was a very interesting show on PBS a few weeks ago about the sinking of Venice and it talk about the gates and various other options. One reason why it seems they can't get anything done is that the government changes so frequently there that no one team is in place long enough to get it started and funded before they're replaced.

> Why is it that you rarely ever hear about the DURATION of these "floods" on posts like these?

On the contrary, there are usually at least a few sensible posters like GeoffHamer who reminds others each acqua alta doesn't last long. Also if you read what the person who took the photos wrote on the europeforvisitors.com I suggested above, you see the acqua alta he experienced lasted only about an hour.