Another record tide, Venice on its knees. Two victims in the night. Flooded the crypt of San Marco. Zaia: "Apocalyptic devastation".

VENICE. Venice awoke after a night of fear for record-high water: 187 centimeters, a level exceeded only in 1966 (190 centimeters). The emergency, however, has not passed: this morning another super-tide arrived, close to the meter and 50 centimeters. The Maree Center reported that water is rapidly falling. But the city is on its knees. The entire historic center is under water and many houses and hotels have been invaded. The situation inside San Marco is a cause for concern. "We were just a hair's breadth away from the Apocalypse, a hair's breadth from the disaster," said the prosecutor of the Basilica Pierpaolo Campostrini. «The water entered the basilica, flooded the floor and broke the windows and entered the crypt, flooding it. The thing is dangerous because the water could have given static problems to the columns, which hold up the basilica ». The Teatro La Fenice was not spared: the water did not affect the structure but invaded the service areas, making the electrical system and the anti-fire system useless.

Zaia: "Unimaginable damage"
This morning the mayor Luigi Brugnaro has already asked for a state of calamity: "Inside the houses it is like being in the pool, there are people who have lost everything. It is not just a matter of quantifying the damage, but of the very future of the city. Because depopulation also stems from this ». The Venetian governor Luca Zaia spoke of "apocalyptic and total devastation, 80% of the city is under water, unimaginable, fearful damages". He added that "the scenario also worries us for the next few hours". Premier Giuseppe Conte and Infrastructure Minister Paola De Micheli are expected in the city.

Two victims
Yesterday two victims were registered. It is a 78-year-old man who died from electrocution in the island of Pellestrina, one of the tongues of land that separates Venice from the sea. To cause the death of the elderly would have been an electrical short circuit triggered by the tide that had entered his house. A second inhabitant of the island was also found dead at home, probably due to natural causes. The closure of all schools has already been arranged in the city. All of Avm's navigation services were suspended after three waterbuses sank in Riva degli Schiavoni and dozens of boats broke their moorings and drifted into the lagoon. Even many gondolas have been tossed about by the high tide and dragged into the canals.

Orange alert in 10 regions
Yesterday the bad weather also affected South Italy, with the most serious situations in Basilicata, Campania and Calabria. For today there is still orange alert in ten Regions. In the North, on the other hand, there has been heavy snowfall in Trentino Alto Adige. On the Dolomites there are strong traffic problems. In some areas of South Tyrol up to 40 centimeters of snow fell during the night. Many roads are blocked for fallen trees, as is the railway line of the Val Pusteria. Over 200 fire brigade interventions to free the streets, while in Bolzano there are flooded cellars. The biggest problems are registered in the Val d'Ega, Val Gardena and Val Pusteria. The situation is expected to improve in the afternoon