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Rare phenomenon in Venice: Lagoon city suffers from "Aqua Bassa" - gondolas stuck in the mud

2023-02-20T07:01:11.270Z


Venice usually has to deal with high water. Now the lagoon city is too "dry". The water levels at low tide are unusually low. Mud can be seen in small channels.


Venice usually has to deal with high water.

Now the lagoon city is too "dry".

The water levels at low tide are unusually low.

Mud can be seen in small channels.

Venice – Gondolas lie in the mud in Venice.

Where the gondolas usually splash along in the numerous canals, there is hardly any water to be seen, only silt.

The famous lagoon city in Italy is falling dry.

Even along the Grand Canal, the old foundations of the buildings are becoming visible, reports Italian news agency Ansa.

The water level in Venice is currently falling extremely at low tide.

Over the weekend, the tide point was more than half a meter below the normal water level.

At “Aqua Bassa” (low water) the gondoliers cannot get any further on small canals.

Rescue services also have major problems with the dry canals.

Some locations are inaccessible to the water ambulance for a few hours during low tide or are stranded in the smaller canals.

Rare phenomenon in Venice: Lagoon city suffers from "Aqua Bassa" - low water

Low water in Venice is a rare phenomenon, but it does happen from time to time.

It was particularly extreme in the lagoon city in March 2022. Venice was left dry.

This time, above all, the duration and the cause of the drought is exceptional.

The fluctuations in the tides depend on various factors, such as a new moon phase or special wind conditions.

According to experts, a special weather situation is also responsible for the phenomenon this time: A high pressure area over Italy that acts like a barrier and keeps rain out.

Tourists anxiously photograph the dried-up canals.

On Sunday afternoon (February 19), the level should fall below 55 centimeters again.

Also on Monday the tide forecast of the city of Venice counts again with a minus of 55 centimeters.

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"Aqua Bassa" in Venice: Many gondolas are stuck in the mud.

At low tide, the water level drops extremely.

© Andrea Merola/ imago

Venice floats between extremes

The high water - "Aqua Alta" - is more typical for Venice in autumn and winter.

For safety reasons on the occasion of the 2023 carnival, some sidewalks are closed by the city as a precaution until February 22nd in the event of flooding.

If the sea level rises so much that parts of the city are flooded, sirens sound in Venice and on the islands.

There are four different audible warning signals to know the expected tide height.

A high tide is considered high tide when the tide rises 110 centimeters above sea level in Punta della Salute, according to the Venice City Tourism Authority.

  • +110 cm: a long tone on the same "note"

  • +120 cm: two sounds in increasing scale

  • +130 cm: three sounds in increasing scale

  • +140 cm and more: four sounds in ascending scale

For this purpose, the Moses water protection system is activated when the water is more than 110 centimeters high.

The system has been in operation since autumn 2020.

It consists of barriers that the city can raise at three entrances to the lagoon.

The flood in 2019 was particularly tragic. Venice was flooded in the night of November 13, 2019 in the catastrophic tidal wave.

The water, driven by the so-called Scirocco wind, rose to 1.87 meters at the time.

The damage was devastating.

(ml)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-02-20

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