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The gates of the Mose flood protection system close all three entrances to the Venice lagoon
Photo: Andrea Pattaro / AFP
After storms in northern Italy, Venice opened the new Mose flood protection system on Saturday.
The gates of the flood locks have been put into operation, wrote the Ansa news agency.
The newly built facility had been extensively tested in the past few months, but not yet during floods.
It should prevent flooding in the lagoon city.
Flooding occurs frequently in Venice, especially in autumn and winter.
If the air pressure is low during an exceptionally strong tide, the Sahara wind pushes the water into the canals.
Last November, additional heavy rainfall resulted in the worst flooding in more than 50 years.
The city had to declare a state of emergency, the damage was enormous.
The accident could have been prevented.
In order to protect Venice from the increasing number of floods (read more about the causes here), the city has been building a huge bulwark since the early 1990s to protect it from floods and shield it from rising sea levels.
On Saturday morning, the 78 flood gates were opened for the first time when there was an impending flood.
They should close the three entrances to the Venice lagoon.
Each gate weighs a good 250 tons and is up to five meters thick, 20 meters wide and 30 meters high.
Storm: Severe damage in northern Italy and southern France
With the decision, the authorities are also reacting to severe storms that caused devastating damage in northern Italy with rain and storms on Saturday night.
A volunteer firefighter was killed by a fallen tree during a rescue operation in the Aosta Valley, as the Ansa news agency reported on Saturday morning.
In other regions, too, such as Liguria and Piedmont, flooded rivers and fallen trees caused severe damage.
Numerous people were missing according to the fire department.
"The situation is dramatic," reported the rescuers from the Alpine region around the city of Cuneo.
Many phones didn't work.
At noon, the authorities reported eleven missing persons from the Piedmont region alone.
Even a German trekking group did not initially contact a hotelier who was supposed to pick them up at Terme di Valdieri after a tour of several days, it said.
In the south of France, several people are also missing after storms with torrential rains and floods.
According to the fire brigade, two firefighters whose vehicle was swept away by floods during an operation were among those affected.
Several villages in the hinterland of the Côte d'Azur were cut off from the outside world.
In some places there was a risk of landslides, so that many streets were closed on Saturday.
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irb / AFP / dpa