November 4th 1966: 55 years ago the flood that devastated Venice | Today Treviso | News
Photo Giacomelli Archive
VENICE – They’ve passed 55 years old but the memory is still intact and the wound always open. The November 4, 1966 Venice was almost completely submerged by the water of the stormy Adriatic Sea. A day that recorded an exceptional meteorological condition such as to cause immense civil and hydrogeological damage in half of Italy from the devastation of the mountains to the flooding of the Arno in Florence.
The water was so high that there is no memory of an episode of similar size previously: 194 centimeters above the average sea level, an altitude close to only the November 12, 2019 with 187 cm, another day that remains etched in the memory of the Venetians, when 1966 was not replicated for only 7 cm.
Strong and persistent sirocco, the historic center began to be invaded as early as 10 pm on November 3: according to the astronomical rules, at 5 the next morning the purchased tide withdraw, to get up again six hours later. But it did not happen. The lagoon was unable to drain the water, which dropped only a few centimeters; Venice and the islands remained flooded and around noon the tide swelled further. The telephones, the electric light, the gas in the houses went out. The boots that Venetians are used to were no longer enough, you could not pass through and the ground floors disappeared under the icy waters of the sea and the lagoon.
At that point Venice, again six hours later, at 18, where to face the decisive test: once again, instead of dropping, upsetting every rule and tradition, the tide began to rise again. In total darkness, in the most deafening silence interrupted only by the sound of the storm, Venice and the islands were devastated. The island of Sant’Erasmo, in front of the Lido inlet, disappeared under waves up to 4 meters high, the same fate befell the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, while the Lido and Pellestrina damage was even greater with the destruction of the Murazzi, the imposing Istrian stone designed in 1716 to defend the lagoon banks from the erosion of the sea, which collapsed contributed to the flooding of the historic center.
A balance lasted 1600 years it was interrupted at that time, in the desperation of the inhabitants, unable to face something greater than themselves.
After 24 hours of domination, it was only around 9 pm that, now against all expectations, the waters began to retreat. As it had risen, the tide ebbed out of the city, leaving only devastation and dirt behind.