Venice Floods Reach Five Feet, But Life Goes On

December 2, 2008--Ignoring a mayoral request to stay indoors on Monday, Venetians and tourists wade and float through Venice's worst floods in 22 years.

The Italian island city saw waters as deep as 5 feet (155 centimeters)--the fourth deepest since the city began keeping flood records in 1872. The record, however, still stands: A 1966 flood put Venice under 76 sloshing inches (194 centimeters) of the wet stuff. "Venice is completely paralyzed," said a local official of the extreme floods that crested December 1, 2008, according to the Times of London.

Apparently these gondoliers didn't get the message. Shown breakfasting Monday, they exemplify the locals' rubber-booted fortitude in the face of floods, which occur several times a year. Outside the Doge's Palace (right), Venice's Piazza San Marco is hidden by floodwaters nearly as high as cafe tables on December 1, 2008.

The flood put nearly the entire city underwater.

Five years ago, the city began building a $5.5-billion system of offshore dams, expected to be completed in 2011. Such seawalls should prevent floods like this week's. The floods couldn't deter these shoppers, who donned tall boots and perused a pastry shop in Venice on December 1, 2008.

Mayor Massimo Cacciari urged residents to stay indoors and tourists to "think again" about visiting, the Scotsman reported.

"It all happened so quickly--within 20 minutes we were up to our waists in water," a shopkeeper told the newspaper

A woman waits for a boat amid floodwaters in Venice, Italy, on December 1, 2008.

Monday's extreme water levels led officials to suspend ferry and water taxi services in the city.

"We sent out another warning about very high tides this morning," said Leonardo Cossutta, who runs the Venice Tide Center's control room, on December 2, the New York Times reported.

He said transportation was returning to normal, although some canal ferries were forced to use alternative routes. Heightened canal water levels had made it impossible for the boats to fit under some bridges.
A woman crosses Venice's Piazza San Marco on an elevated walkway on December 2, 2008. The water had risen up to five feet (1.5 meters) high on Monday before beginning to recede on Tuesday.

The temporary walkway is designed to help visitors and residents navigate the city during flooding. Workers were unable to install most of the city's platforms, however, as the water rose too quickly