Venice’s MOSE flood barrier system has saved the city from flooding again, as a 173 cm acqua alta moved into the lagoon on Tuesday.
Without MOSE, a system of 78 flood gates which rise up from the Venetian lagoon floor, local officials said some 82 per cent of the city would have been under water.
The multi-billion-euro MOSE project was designed in 1984, aiming to protect Venice from tides of up to 3 metres; a height well beyond current records.
MOSE, which is both an acronym for the project’s name in Italian, and a reference to the biblical prophet Moses, first began operating in October 2020.
This week’s acqua alta was the third highest ever, after 193 cm on November 4, 1966 and 187 cm on November 12, 2019.
Locals and brave groups of tourists were still seen roaming around the city’s historic centre, despite the strong winds and continuous rainfall.
“MOSE is facing the highest tide in 50 years, and without those barriers Venice would be submerged in a catastrophic way, and despite the nay-sayers, those barriers are saving a heritage of humanity,” said Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini.
Salvini also said that Tuesday’s acqua alta was “worse than the great tide of three years ago”.
