rubber boots in Venice!
 

We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend has
advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?

thanks

laurence

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

"footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ...
    > We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
    > has advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    > Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    > thanks
    > laurence
The flood times are available locally. Boots and umbrellas available at
many hotels. An "air raid" siren gives you focus that the tide is arriving.
Unless the tide is of epic proportions there are plenty of "dry" areas away
from the water. s

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

cheers Steve
"Steve Cain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] ...
    >> We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
    >> has advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    >> Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    >> thanks
    >> laurence
    > The flood times are available locally. Boots and umbrellas available at
    > many hotels. An "air raid" siren gives you focus that the tide is
    > arriving. Unless the tide is of epic proportions there are plenty of "dry"
    > areas away from the water. s
    >

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

<< We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
has
advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?>>


Try this:

http://www.comune.venezia.it/maree/grafico.asp

It is maintained by the commune of Venice and gives tidal predictions for
upto a week in advance.

Ian Millward

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

<< Try this:

http://www.comune.venezia.it/maree/grafico.asp >>

I forgot to append the crib sheet:
above 140 centimeters is a flood emergency

at 130 centimeters, 62% of the city is below water

at 120 centimeters, 33% of the city is below water

at 110 centimeters, 15% of the city is below water

at 100 centimeters, 5% of the city is below water

between 80 and 100 centimeters, there is generally only flooding in central
areas. This is still "acqua alta", but pretty modest.

Under 80, no problem.







Ian Millward

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

And what if a few posters say they went in November and never saw a flood?

Millions have never had to deal with it and hundreds of thousands have.

Flooding happens in Venice in the winter - you can either be prepared, or
take your chances.


"footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ...
    > We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
has
    > advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    > Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    > thanks
    > laurence

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 17:25:39 -0400, "Claim Guy"
<[email protected]> wrote:


    >"footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected] k...
    >> We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
    >has
    >> advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    >> Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    >And what if a few posters say they went in November and never saw a flood?
    >Millions have never had to deal with it and hundreds of thousands have.
    >Flooding happens in Venice in the winter - you can either be prepared, or
    >take your chances.

I went in November and didn't see a flood. I can't see what that has
to do with it.
--
Martin

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

Acqua alta is a quite regular phenomenon --over forty time last year, and it
happens at any time of the year, but mostly winter -- November is a biggie.
But it is not often very deep except in a few areas, and it is tidal so it
rarely lasts more than a few hours.
The term "Flooding" is a bit heavy -- water comes up in many low lying
places-- starting in St. Marks, which is the lowest spot in town - and it is
more likely to be three or four inches than anything. Many places in town
are not effected at all unless the rise is extreme, which is not often. We
have not had water on our street -- Calle Paradiso -- in years, although
residents say it has occurred. ( If it were to come up here, the city would
be in trouble, and tourists should stay away or leave).
The city puts out raised platforms where necessary when the water comes up
( and tourists sit on them the rest of the time) -- three or so feet wide,
which can get tricky in a two way crowd.
Venetians, who have to be able to get about for business, shopping, etc.,
have boots handy and pop them on when the sirens go off. But tourists can
usually avoid the problem for the few hours it occurs. There are maps in the
Vaporetto stops showing the most likely places for acqua alta, and how to
avoid them.
If you were going to be there a week or so, and acqua alta makes a
formidable appearance, you can buy boots -- 18 to 20 euro -- in many shops.
( Unless you have very big feet, as I do -- then you have to get weird
looking plastic affairs that look like anemic fly fisherman waders. Damned
silly looking!). I suppose if you have wellies, and lots of room in your
luggage, you could take them on spec -- more for the fun of sloshing about
St. Marks' than anything else -- but I wouldn't. Although rain is predicted
every day for the next week, it is tide that causes the problem, not rain.
rjf

"footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ...
    > We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
has
    > advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    > Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    > thanks
    > laurence

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

Now THAT'S a great, informative response. Thanks, Bob!

"Bob Fusillo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:mhfgd.540706$8_6.6618@attbi_s04...
    > Acqua alta is a quite regular phenomenon --over forty time last year, and
it
    > happens at any time of the year, but mostly winter -- November is a
biggie.
    > But it is not often very deep except in a few areas, and it is tidal so it
    > rarely lasts more than a few hours.
    > The term "Flooding" is a bit heavy -- water comes up in many low lying
    > places-- starting in St. Marks, which is the lowest spot in town - and it
is
    > more likely to be three or four inches than anything. Many places in town
    > are not effected at all unless the rise is extreme, which is not often. We
    > have not had water on our street -- Calle Paradiso -- in years, although
    > residents say it has occurred. ( If it were to come up here, the city
would
    > be in trouble, and tourists should stay away or leave).
    > The city puts out raised platforms where necessary when the water comes up
    > ( and tourists sit on them the rest of the time) -- three or so feet
wide,
    > which can get tricky in a two way crowd.
    > Venetians, who have to be able to get about for business, shopping, etc.,
    > have boots handy and pop them on when the sirens go off. But tourists can
    > usually avoid the problem for the few hours it occurs. There are maps in
the
    > Vaporetto stops showing the most likely places for acqua alta, and how to
    > avoid them.
    > If you were going to be there a week or so, and acqua alta makes a
    > formidable appearance, you can buy boots -- 18 to 20 euro -- in many
shops.
    > ( Unless you have very big feet, as I do -- then you have to get weird
    > looking plastic affairs that look like anemic fly fisherman waders. Damned
    > silly looking!). I suppose if you have wellies, and lots of room in your
    > luggage, you could take them on spec -- more for the fun of sloshing about
    > St. Marks' than anything else -- but I wouldn't. Although rain is
predicted
    > every day for the next week, it is tide that causes the problem, not rain.
    > rjf
    > "footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] ...
    > > We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
    > has
    > > advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    > > Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    > >
    > > thanks
    > >
    > > laurence
    > >
    > >

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

"footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ...
    > We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
has
    > advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    > Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    > thanks
    > laurence

Yes, in mid-September of 2002, we had that problem. Here is the note from
my trip notes about the problem. Hotel Anastasia, where we stayed, was in a
perfect spot, quite close to St. Mark's Square.

"Mon - 23 Sep - We had our hotel breakfast, then toured the Doge's Palace.
The tour was quite long, with lots of steps up and down, so at the end we
wet back to our hotel for a rest.

Then we were soon back out on the go again, and toured the Duomo. It had
begun raining, and although there was no danger of building flooding, there
was an inch or two or more of water all over most of the square. Because of
this, wooden walkways had bee set up to go from one place to the other
across the square, and even into the Duomo. The walkways were one to three
feet high, and about three feet wide, with people walking both directions on
them, so you had to be quite careful to keep from falling off. We saw some
who did take a spill, in fact."

We had not taken galoshes or rubber boots, so we had to use the walkways.
In fact the continuing rain caused us to leave Venice for Lake Garda one day
earlier than planned. So I would say that the suggestion you have been
given is a good one.

Have a great time.

Joe in Georgetown, Texas, USA

Re: rubber boots in Venice!
 

Not sure if you are already gone, but I'll say this:

Two years ago we were in Venice in November, and right at the Grand Canal,
it was flooded at least a couple of feet --- maybe as high as 3 or 4 feet at
times. Our hotel lobby had stuff floating. I did notice some locals were
prepared and carried boots in a plastic bag for just such an emergency. We
luckily snuck out of the kitchen to the rear of the building where the water
was only about 6 inches high.

According to what I could decipher from the local papers, it appears the
only time before that, that the water was higher was in 1966(from memory).

Most of Venice's main piazzas have elevated platforms that people use to get
above the water. It's quite funny, imho, to see pedestrian traffic cops
directing traffic on the platforms blowing their whistles whenever people
stop to talk.

HTH
Keith
Pittsburgh

"footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ...
    > We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
has
    > advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    > Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    > thanks
    > laurence

Re: rubber boots in Venice! I was wrong
 

Sorry 'bout this. A very unusual weekend.

Associated Press
VENICE, Italy - Unusually high tides sent sea water sweeping through Venice
on Sunday, covering 80 percent of the city by afternoon. St. Mark's Square
and other famous locations were inundated, forcing tourists and residents
alike to don rubber boots and use elevated walkways.

St. Mark's Square, the heart of the city and one of its lowest points, was
covered by at least 16 inches of water. A canoeist was spotted in the
square.

City officials put out raised wooden walkways, but in some places the water
rose above them, the ANSA news agency said.

Leonardo Cossutta, of the city office that monitors tides, said Venice's
waterborne public transportation was suspended for about an hour and some
shops reported water damage.

Venice is prone to periodic flooding. The government has approved a plan to
install mobile barriers on the Adriatic seabed near the entrance to the
Venetian lagoon to protect the city when threatened by high tides.





----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----




"Bob Fusillo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:mhfgd.540706$8_6.6618@attbi_s04...
    > Acqua alta is a quite regular phenomenon --over forty time last year, and
it
    > happens at any time of the year, but mostly winter -- November is a
biggie.
    > But it is not often very deep except in a few areas, and it is tidal so it
    > rarely lasts more than a few hours.
    > The term "Flooding" is a bit heavy -- water comes up in many low lying
    > places-- starting in St. Marks, which is the lowest spot in town - and it
is
    > more likely to be three or four inches than anything. Many places in town
    > are not effected at all unless the rise is extreme, which is not often. We
    > have not had water on our street -- Calle Paradiso -- in years, although
    > residents say it has occurred. ( If it were to come up here, the city
would
    > be in trouble, and tourists should stay away or leave).
    > The city puts out raised platforms where necessary when the water comes up
    > ( and tourists sit on them the rest of the time) -- three or so feet
wide,
    > which can get tricky in a two way crowd.
    > Venetians, who have to be able to get about for business, shopping, etc.,
    > have boots handy and pop them on when the sirens go off. But tourists can
    > usually avoid the problem for the few hours it occurs. There are maps in
the
    > Vaporetto stops showing the most likely places for acqua alta, and how to
    > avoid them.
    > If you were going to be there a week or so, and acqua alta makes a
    > formidable appearance, you can buy boots -- 18 to 20 euro -- in many
shops.
    > ( Unless you have very big feet, as I do -- then you have to get weird
    > looking plastic affairs that look like anemic fly fisherman waders. Damned
    > silly looking!). I suppose if you have wellies, and lots of room in your
    > luggage, you could take them on spec -- more for the fun of sloshing about
    > St. Marks' than anything else -- but I wouldn't. Although rain is
predicted
    > every day for the next week, it is tide that causes the problem, not rain.
    > rjf
    > "footman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] ...
    > > We are going to Venice tomorrow for a long weekend and an Italian friend
    > has
    > > advised packing rubber boots in case of flooding.
    > > Has anyone found this to be necessary on a visit to Venice?
    > >
    > > thanks
    > >
    > > laurence
    > >
    > >

Re: rubber boots in Venice! I was wrong
 

On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 02:54:42 GMT, "Bob Fusillo" <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >Sorry 'bout this. A very unusual weekend.
    >Associated Press
    >VENICE, Italy - Unusually high tides sent sea water sweeping through Venice
    >on Sunday, covering 80 percent of the city by afternoon. St. Mark's Square
    >and other famous locations were inundated, forcing tourists and residents
    >alike to don rubber boots and use elevated walkways.

Normal spring tides are exceptionally high tides.

    >St. Mark's Square, the heart of the city and one of its lowest points, was
    >covered by at least 16 inches of water. A canoeist was spotted in the
    >square.
    >City officials put out raised wooden walkways, but in some places the water
    >rose above them, the ANSA news agency said.
    >Leonardo Cossutta, of the city office that monitors tides, said Venice's
    >waterborne public transportation was suspended for about an hour and some
    >shops reported water damage.
    >Venice is prone to periodic flooding. The government has approved a plan to
    >install mobile barriers on the Adriatic seabed near the entrance to the
    >Venetian lagoon to protect the city when threatened by high tides.

I seem to remember the world via the UN, collecting GBP250 million
around 1966 and giving the money to Italy to provide flood defences
for Venice. The money disappeared without trace. I will not be
donating money to the same cause again.
--
Martin

Re: rubber boots in Venice! I was wrong
 

In article <[email protected]>,
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 02:54:42 GMT, "Bob Fusillo" <[email protected]>
    > wrote:
    >
    > >Sorry 'bout this. A very unusual weekend.
    > >
    > >Associated Press
    > >VENICE, Italy - Unusually high tides sent sea water sweeping through Venice
    > >on Sunday, covering 80 percent of the city by afternoon. St. Mark's Square
    > >and other famous locations were inundated, forcing tourists and residents
    > >alike to don rubber boots and use elevated walkways.
    >
    > Normal spring tides are exceptionally high tides.

But for Venice it is the wind/weather combined with the tides that
cause the real problem. This is usually is Oct and Nov.

    >
    > >
    > >St. Mark's Square, the heart of the city and one of its lowest points, was
    > >covered by at least 16 inches of water. A canoeist was spotted in the
    > >square.
    > >
    > >City officials put out raised wooden walkways, but in some places the water
    > >rose above them, the ANSA news agency said.
    > >
    > >Leonardo Cossutta, of the city office that monitors tides, said Venice's
    > >waterborne public transportation was suspended for about an hour and some
    > >shops reported water damage.
    > >
    > >Venice is prone to periodic flooding. The government has approved a plan to
    > >install mobile barriers on the Adriatic seabed near the entrance to the
    > >Venetian lagoon to protect the city when threatened by high tides.
    >
    > I seem to remember the world via the UN, collecting GBP250 million
    > around 1966 and giving the money to Italy to provide flood defences
    > for Venice. The money disappeared without trace. I will not be
    > donating money to the same cause again.

The PM last year launched the "Gates" program.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venice/gate_q.html

jay
Mon Nov 01, 2004
mailto:[email protected]

Re: rubber boots in Venice! I was wrong
 

On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 02:02:04 -0800, Go Fig <[email protected]> wrote:

    >In article <[email protected]>,
    ><[email protected]> wrote:
    >> On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 02:54:42 GMT, "Bob Fusillo" <[email protected]>
    >> wrote:
    >>
    >> >Sorry 'bout this. A very unusual weekend.
    >> >
    >> >Associated Press
    >> >VENICE, Italy - Unusually high tides sent sea water sweeping through Venice
    >> >on Sunday, covering 80 percent of the city by afternoon. St. Mark's Square
    >> >and other famous locations were inundated, forcing tourists and residents
    >> >alike to don rubber boots and use elevated walkways.
    >>
    >> Normal spring tides are exceptionally high tides.
    >But for Venice it is the wind/weather combined with the tides that
    >cause the real problem. This is usually is Oct and Nov.

As elsewhere, UK SW coast last week for example.

    >>
    >> >
    >> >St. Mark's Square, the heart of the city and one of its lowest points, was
    >> >covered by at least 16 inches of water. A canoeist was spotted in the
    >> >square.
    >> >
    >> >City officials put out raised wooden walkways, but in some places the water
    >> >rose above them, the ANSA news agency said.
    >> >
    >> >Leonardo Cossutta, of the city office that monitors tides, said Venice's
    >> >waterborne public transportation was suspended for about an hour and some
    >> >shops reported water damage.
    >> >
    >> >Venice is prone to periodic flooding. The government has approved a plan to
    >> >install mobile barriers on the Adriatic seabed near the entrance to the
    >> >Venetian lagoon to protect the city when threatened by high tides.
    >>
    >> I seem to remember the world via the UN, collecting GBP250 million
    >> around 1966 and giving the money to Italy to provide flood defences
    >> for Venice. The money disappeared without trace. I will not be
    >> donating money to the same cause again.
    >The PM last year launched the "Gates" program.
    >http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venice/gate_q.html

It all looks vaguely familiar. Same sting using modern graphics?
--
Martin