Parts of Venice were under water during Tuesday.
“The situation is dramatic. We ask the government for help, the costs will be high. This is a result of climate change, writes Mayor Luigi Brugnaro on Twitter.
Since the measurements began in 1923, the water has only once before, in 1966, been so high in Venice, when it reached 194 centimeters above the normal level.
"It will be a long night," Brugnaro continues on Twitter. "The fears we had a few hours ago have been replaced by an assessment of the extent of the damage," he writes, adding that the flood will leave a permanent wound in the city.