While people are used to a lot of water in Venice, Venetians took to wearing high boots and using wooden walkways to wade through the streets on Thursday. Some shops and ground-floor apartments were flooded.
With Venice having been built on hundreds of small islands, the city often experiences high water levels in autumn and winter.
AFP reports that the flood on Thursday was caused by wind and rain, in combination with a periodic tidal phenomenon unique to the region.
Just over half the city was flooded, with water levels above 140 cm, which makes this the highest tide since December 2010.
High tide floods Venice, Italy
Video screen capture
Worst hit was Chioggia, a town on the southern edge of the Venice lagoon, with water levels reaching 160cm.
Italian authorities have begun to build a dam system, the MOSE, which will prevent water levels going beyond 110cm, the level at which Venice usually starts flooding. The project will cost US$7.9 billion and is scheduled to be completed in 2014. However, recent austerity measures in Italy may make this difficult in the current economic crisis.
Amazing images of the flooding in Venice can be viewed
here.
