Will Venice Sink, or Drown?

Tourists are rapidly taking the place of local residents, jeopardizing the city’s future

It’s the off season in Venice, and rain has fallen upon the City of Canals nearly every day for the past few weeks. When combined with abnormally high tides and a powerful scirocco wind, water rises and floods the city’s narrow streets and alleyways, a periodic phenomenon known as acqua alta. This month’s recent flooding was one of the worst in recent history, breaching Saint Mark’s Basilica for only the sixth time in the cathedral’s nearly thousand-year history. Unfortunately, the effects of such drastic flooding — considered by many a direct consequence of climate change — tell a tragic story for the city’s local residents.

Typical flooding such as this occurs as often as twice per day

On Tuesday, November 12, the flooding reached its highest level in fifty years. As the water ravaged the city, a state of emergency was declared by the mayor. Tables, chairs, and various other debris floated down narrow streets and alleyways, damaging storefronts and residences. Inside, retail merchandise floated haplessly, and apartments on the first floor were utterly ruined. Students at Venice International University were stranded on the island of San Servolo, forced to survive on whatever food they had stockpiled, with dining halls closed for nearly a week. Leaving one’s residence was simply not an…