Venice's canals are continuing to overflow their banks as rising sea waters spread through the lagoon city.
According to the Guardian, high water measuring five feet above the normal level of the Adriatic sea came with bad weather that swept Italy at the weekend, causing floods in historic cities including Vicenza as well in the region of Tuscany 250 miles further south.
Venice's high water, or "acqua alta," said to be the sixth highest since 1872, flooded 70 percent of the city and was high enough to make raised wooden platforms for pedestrians float away. According to the article, tourists attached plastic bags to their legs or stripped off to take a dip in St Mark's Square in Venice on Sunday.
Matteo Secchi, a hotelier, said his property was only safe up to 140cm. "This morning the lagoon came right into the hotel entrance, and this is not clean water – you need to mop with disinfectant twice after it goes down," he said. "The British tourists don't complain but the Americans can't understand how it's possible."