Venice Under Water
The world-famous St
Mark's square in Venice was submerged in water after a newly installed
mechanism for mobile artificial dam failed to activate appropriately. Though
the residents of the city are long accustomed to high water events, this one
still managed to shock them all. People took out their rubber boots &
struggled to keep water out of their properties. The flooding was noted as high
as 4.5 feet above the sea level in the afternoon. The system failed to activate
against the flood because the forecast erroneously predicted water rise of only
4 feet above sea level. The project which was originally launched in 2003 to
protect Venice against such calamities is called MOSE. This infrastructure
project has cost the country almost 7 billion euros versus the original cost
estimated at 2 billion only.