After days of ferocious winds and rain, the city of Venice was under water and at least 10 people were killed throughout Italy. Approximately 70 percent of Venice was under water by Monday, according to officials, forcing residents to trudge through knee- and waist-high water in some areas. The high tide hit a maximum of just over five feet above sea level in the early afternoon on Monday — the fourth highest level ever recorded and the single highest since 2008, local authorities said. The high tide was attributed to strong winds from the storm, which on Sunday gave runners in the Venice Marathon an additional obstacle to overcome. The marathon starts inland near the city of Padua, according to Runners World. After approximately 20 miles, the runners hit Venice, which is where they then encountered the flooding. Il nuoto paralimpico c’era già. Il nuoto paralimpico in carrozzina mancava. Eccolo #Venicemarathon PS: per i non madrelingua: “i sbrissa” = “scivolano” pic.twitter.com/bV3GqKlOXH — Andrea Schiavon (@AskLouder) October 28, 2018 One Paralympic participant was seen pushing his wheelchair through the rising water toward the finish line. Police in Venice tweeted that some tourists became stranded and needed rescuing on Monday due to the floodwater. "It was the perfect storm during which adverse meteorological conditions contributed to the situation in the sea and winds," Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli said. While in much of the flooding in Venice left residents inconvenienced, in other parts of Italy, the rain proved deadly. "The exceptional wave of bad weather leaves us with a dramatic toll: nine dead, four serious injuries and one person missing," said Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. A woman was killed in the northern region of Trentino-Alto Adige after she was buried in mud after a landslide rushed her home and a firefighter was struck by a tree while responding to the emergency, according to the Associated Press. Other deaths were caused by falling trees, according to the AP. Another man was slammed against rocks while wind-surfing in Emilia-Romagna. Others were killed in Naples, Liguria and Lazio. Authorities urged locals to stay home unless absolutely necessary and schools were shuttered as the storm swept through the country, according to Reuters.<doc-sep>At a Glance Officials said 70 percent of Venice, Italy, was flooded Monday as strong winds drove water into the lagoon city. The city normally experiences flooding, but these were the highest levels in nearly a decade. The flooding was so extreme because of a strong low-pressure system that brought nasty weather to southern Europe. The storms were responsible for at least six deaths in Italy. Nearly three-quarters of Venice, Italy, was flooded Monday because of a storm system that brought strong winds, driving up water levels more than five feet in the lagoon city, officials said. High winds push water in from the lagoon, flooding parts of the city frequently, but Monday's levels were far higher than normal. At its peak, Monday's water level reached nearly 61.5 inches, the highest since December 2008. Water levels were forecast to reach 63 inches above normal levels, which would have been the first time that had happened since December 1979. "A strong low-pressure system is spinning through southern Europe, spreading heavy rain and strong winds across northern Italy," said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. "The strong winds triggered the inundation in Venice as they blew from south to north through the Adriatic Sea." The storm system was blamed for at least six deaths nationwide. Wind damage that brought down trees and sent objects airborne was to blame for the deaths. (MORE: What Are Your Odds for Halloween Snow?) Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said a series of underwater barriers being erected in the lagoon, known as the MOSE Project, would have prevented the inundation. The project is long overdue, beset by cost overruns and corruption scandals. Advertisement "MOSE would indeed have helped with this particular event," said Bob Henson, weather and climate blogger for Weather Underground. "The water levels today reached 61.5 inches, which would have triggered the 43.3-inch gate closing of MOSE." Brugnaro said he had requested to speak with the Premier Giuseppe Conte to underline the urgency of the project, which would raise barriers when the tide reaches 43 inches. That happens on average four times a year. The public transport company closed the water taxi service due to the emergency, with connections remaining active only to the outlying islands. The city, built on a series of islands, deals with the high water by erecting a series of risers that permit people to circulate by foot. Residents and businesses typically reinforce doors with metal or wooden panels to prevent water from entering bottom floors. Much of Italy is under alert for flooding from heavy rains, a problem exacerbated by a lack of maintenance of river beds. Veneto regional governor Luca Zaia says flooding could reach the levels of the 1966 flood that struck both Venice and Florence. In a message on Instagram, he called off schools in the region for a second day on Tuesday.<doc-sep>Some tourists decided to go for a swim in famed Saint Mark’s Square, in front of the city’s cathedral. The cathedral itself was damaged by flooding as water submerged part of the floor in the central part of the basilica for only the fifth recorded time in its nine-century history, officials said. The water covered “several dozens of square meters” of the marble pavement in front of the altar of the Madonna Nicopeia, a 12th century icon, and submerged the baptistery, the board responsible for the building said in a statement. Near the covered entrance to the basilica, the mosaic floor was under as much as 35 inches of water, it said, “soaking the monumental bronze doors, columns and marble.” Water levels remained above ground in the basilica for 16 hours. “It may not be visible to the eye, but structures age because of the salt water drenching the bricks, which were not meant to remain underwater for long; that goes for bronze, too,” said Pierpaolo Campostrini, one of the board members. “The bricks are like sponges, and if the water levels don’t drop, the water rises several meters to the mosaic level.” “In one day, the basilica aged 20 years,” he said. An editorial on Tuesday in the Venice daily Il Gazzettino asked what had happened to the Moses Project, the divisive, still-unfinished, multibillion-dollar system of floodgates that has been under construction for years. Venice, built on a lagoon of the Adriatic on Italy’s northeastern coast, has always been vulnerable to flooding, and the system of barriers is supposed to offer some protection as global warming and rising seas make the threat worse.<doc-sep>A woman was killed when her home was hit by a landslide and a fisherman's body was found hours after he went to check on his boat on a lake in Trento. South of the beach resort of Rimini, a kite-surfer aged 63 died when he was hurled against rocks.<doc-sep>
Violent storms battered Italy for a third consecutive day on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, and flooding much of Venice. The lagoon city’s St Mark’s Square remained under water for a second day while the adjacent St Mark’s Basilica was inundated, its baptistery totally flooded and its mosaic floors covered by 90cm (2ft 11in) of water. “The basilica has aged 20 years in just one day, and perhaps I am being overly optimistic about that,” said Carlo Tesserin, the church’s chief administrator. “It is becoming ever more difficult for us and indeed could become impossible for us to repair the damage, especially in an age of climate change.” Italian media said it was the second time this century that the basilica had been flooded, and just the fifth time there had been such high water within the body of the cathedral in the structure’s 1,000-year history. Widespread damage was also reported in towns and cities in the north, south and centre of Italy. Many of the 11 deaths were caused by falling trees as winds as strong as 90mph whipped the country. One of the hardest hit regions was Liguria in the north-west. The breakwater walls in the chic seaside resort of Rapallo were destroyed by pounding waves, letting in a surge of water that toppled dozens of luxury yachts and inflicted heavy damage on the port area. Local media said a yacht owned by the family of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was one of those badly damaged. The nearby resort town of Portofino was cut off by a landslide while video showed seawater pouring through the picturesque fishing village of Vernazza further to the south. The weather was expected to improve late on Tuesday and on Wednesday “giving the country a truce”, an official from the civil protection agency told Reuters. Meanwhile, heavy snowfall across south-central France, with up to 40cm (16in) falling in some towns and villages, caused chaos on the roads and knocked out electricity to nearly 200,000 homes, authorities said on Tuesday.