Venice: Venice authorities reopened St Mark's Square on Saturday for the tourists and residents after it was closed because of flooding caused by exceptionally high tides.
Despite sunny skies, water was rising again in St. Mark's Square and the forecast for Sunday was worse. As for Saturday noon, the Square, commonly known as La Piazza, was under 8 inches of water.
More than 6 feet of water had engulfed nearly 85 percent of the lagoon city last week causing major damage to homes, businesses, stores, and cultural sites including St. Mark's Basilica, the ninth century cathedral. Other architectural and historical treasures in the UNESCO World Heritage Site have also been hit hard. At least two people are said to have died so far by local authorities.
"Venice is once again being watched by the world and it needs to show that it can succeed and pick itself back up," Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told.
On Wednesday, Brugnaro blamed climate change for the apocalyptic flooding.
The deluge has highlighted the fact that the Mose flood defense project remains unfinished.
Mose is a series of movable barriers that can be raised when high winds and high tides combine to threaten to send acqua alta, especially high tides, rushing across the city.
Construction started on the multibillion-euro project in 2003, but corruption scandals, cost overruns and opposition from environmentalists worried about its effects on Venice's delicate lagoon ecosystem have delayed its completion.
In a Facebook post, Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the disaster as a blow to the art of our country.
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