Severe Flooding In Venice

[emmie]

sounds odd but the reality is devastating, watching this beautiful place
get swamped seems unreal. According to the piece on the news yesterday it's mostly the fault of the corrupt politicians, bribery and general bad practice that has caused this catastrophe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50430855

[emmie]

I have been there and it's a beautiful place, though it was raining the whole time i was there. I stood in St Marks Square and visited many famous buildings. Terrifying that much of this could be lost.

[TheDevil]

It's all well and good blaming natural disasters on politicians but in reality, Venice has been battling rising sea levels for quite some time, so this has come as no surprise.

What action could the Italian Government have taken? The cause of rising sea levels isn't isolated to Venice or Italy.

[emmie]

there was some discussion that it's been largely the fault of corrupt politicians, that they have had a solution by and large, sorry to not provide more info but if you read the link it should tell you.

[emmie]

from the piece, this should have done already but due to delays, corruption etc it hasn't

" Mr Conte said the government would accelerate the building of structural defences for the city, referring specifically to the so-called Mose project - a hydraulic barrier system to shut off the lagoon in the event of rising sea levels and winter storms.

[TheDevil]

It is a nice idea but I think potential consequences of Venice being below sea level protected by a hydraulic barrier system may be more severe if something were to go wrong than the gradual increase of sea levels which they're experiencing at the moment.

It is a global problem.

[hereIam]

^ I agree, it's a global problem, unfortunately.

[emmie]

perhaps you are right, but listening to Francesco Da Mosta the broadcaster who lives in Venice, he said much of what i have added, that is largely the fault of the corrupt politicians.

[naomi24]

Venice floods regularly. It's nothing new.

[TheDevil]

When we start discussing the hydraulic barrier system you could lay fault with the Italian government for not implementing it sooner. Only they have the say and money to organise the erection of such structures, but it would cost a lot of money and it won't fix the problem, it would simply prolong the inevitable.

[emmie]

apparently its only happened as bad as this in hundreds of years, at least 6 times, according to the news presenter.

[The Builder]

Interestingly, The Netherlands, a very densely populated country with most of them living below sea-level, have a very different attitude.
Their belief is that they should live with the water, rather than fight it.

Their tax system directly bolsters maintenance of polders and low-lying land. It's a way of life.

Venice, on the other hand, has had several referenda in recent years on the subject of Venetian autonomy. Although the Republic ended a couple of hundred years ago, the rest of Italy still regards them as being a bit "out there."

It's the old story - way of life vs politics.

[Arksided]

The Dutch are always stoned ;-) I've been there and love 'em for it.

I didn't know about Venice I've never been, but the Q title did seem an oxymoron.

[diddlydo]

"it's mostly the fault of the corrupt politicians, bribery and general bad practice that has caused this catastrophe"

OK so rather similar to the current floods in England - corrupt politicians etc.

[dannyk13]

Diddly //OK so rather similar to the current floods in England - corrupt politicians etc.//
So how are politicians responsible for the excessive rainfall?

[emmie]

diddly we aren't discussing the problems here, that is a totally separate issue.

[douglas9401]

"So how are politicians responsible for the excessive rainfall?"

Their constant emission of hot air rises, condenses and falls on the people as rain.

[naomi24]

//So how are politicians responsible for the excessive rainfall? //

I told her the other day, danny. Boris failed to perform the appropriate rain dance. Tut!

[diddlydo]

The politicians are responsible by making cuts in the spending of local authorities, the River and Canal Trust and any other body that is indirectly responsible for managing the waterways.

[dannyk13]

Diddly, are you not aware of the amount of rain that fell ? Nobody could have done anything to prevent the flooding.Your eagerness to blame the Government is blinding your ability to see the facts.

[emmie]

they and we and seemingly the rest of the world are having some strange weather patterns, those rainfalls in the Midlands have been unprecedented.