October 3rd, 2020: joy has made me change the article I was going to publish today. Find out why ...
not science fiction or a futuristic movie, historic day in the city: finally! the floodgates of the MOSE project have been raised to isolate Venice from another terrible flood (the dreaded Acqua Alta)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2nd, 2020: ACQUA ALTA ALARM
"The Venice Tide Report and Forecast Center announces that today, Friday, October 2nd, at 11:55 p.m., a tide of 110 cm height is expected, and tomorrow at 12:05 hours the forecast is 135 cm"
A tide between very strong and exceptional is expected. A tide of this magnitude would flood a large part of the city, ... again. Decision is made to raise the doors of the MOSE project, as Moses did in the Bible, to separate the waters of the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea.
SATURDAY, 9:52 AM OCTOBER 3rd, 2020: RAISED DOORS
Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of Venice: "the uprising of all the doors to contain the tide has been completed "
The 78 movable doors of the Mose project were raised in one hour and 17 minutes, to prevent the rise of the water level in Venice. Seventy-eight doors that were inflated" with air through an underwater hydraulic system
Luigi Brugnaro, alcalde de Venecia: "el alzamiento de todas las puertas para contener la marea se ha completado"
SATURDAY, 10:30 AM, OCTOBER 3rd, 2020: THE SITUATION IS STABLE
"At this time you can see the clear difference in level between the sea and the lagoon. The situation is stable. Now we are waiting. We are confident"
It is the debut of the MOSE project in a critical situation. The 78 doors are closed, the working angle is 40 degrees, the difference in height between the sea and the lagoon is 40 centimeters. And the water does not pass.
A historic day in Venice. On a predicted high tide day, when St. Mark's Square should have been completely flooded, the square is dry, streets, houses, shops are dry. It is the first time that the city remains dry at high tide. The MOSE works
THE AQUA ALTA PHENOMENON IN VENICE
Venice is not directly exposed to strong storms and giant waves, but nothing like a minnow in the Venice lagoon, not directly in the sea This lagoon is protected by natural barriers. If it were not for these barriers, Venice would have already been swallowed by the Adriatic Sea.
However, these natural barriers have 3 main holes through which high tides enter (rise in sea level due to lunar attraction), sometimes powered by the sirocco wind from the southeast, the bora, a northeast wind, or low atmospheric pressure.
Tidal levels are observed at the hydrographic station located in Punta della Salute:
high tide when the tide level is between +80 cm and +109 cm above zero tide (defined as the mean sea level measured in 1897 );
very high tide when the value is between +110 cm and +139 cm;
exceptional high tide when the value reaches or exceeds 140 cm
WILL THESE IMAGES BE SEEN AGAIN?
October 3rd, 2020: VENICE, A CITY SAVED FROM THE WATERS. We should not live it as a moment of arrival, but of departure: the work of the MOSE project must be completed and there are still other problems to be solved, such as the progressive collapse of the city.