Venice flooding: Watch LIVE webcam of Italy hotspot drowned in floods after severe weather

The northern Italian city of Venice as seen its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with two people reported to having died so far. More than 85 percent of Venice has been flooded, and a state of emergency was declared on Wednesday. City mayor Luigi Brugnaro described the floods as an “apocalyptic disaster”. He said: “Venice has been tortured, but there are also other parts of the Veneto region besides Venice.

In a statement, he wrote: “The disaster that hit Venice is a blow to the heart of our country. It hurts to see the city so damaged, its artistic heritage compromised, and its business activities so severely affected.

“I gave a clear signal to the authorities and local institutions I met this afternoon: the government is there for you. It is with Venice and Venetians.

“Tomorrow I will be in the city again, I will meet the local community and we will have another operational meeting in the Prefecture to see the real damage and to give the first solutions.

“In the afternoon I will return to Rome for a Council of Ministers during which we will take charge of the request for a state of emergency.

The city’s famous Saint Mark’s Square was flooded with more than a metre of water.

The Saint Mark’s Basilica was also flooded, prompting fears for the priceless artwork inside.

Venice Archbishop Francesco Moraglia said: “The Basilica is suffering structural damage because the water has risen and so it’s causing irreparable damage, especially when it dries out in the lower section of the mosaics and tiling.”

“I have never seen anything like it. Venice is a wounded city, but it can’t keep on being wounded every year in the same way.”

The clear-up following the floods is expected to cost hundreds of millions of pounds.

Additional reporting by Maria Ortega

source: express.co.uk