Venice, Italy (dpa) - Residents of Venice, Italy, were shocked Wednesday to see the ruins in their city after flooding to levels not seen in 50 years, sweeping gondolas, sweeping hotels and forcing tourists to flee in the face of rapidly rising water.
Shopkeepers were angry at those who failed to protect the UNESCO-listed city from rising water levels and said the delay in implementing the protection dam system that would have prevented the disaster was caused by corruption.
"The city is in despair, there is widespread destruction," Venice Mayor Luigi Prongaro said in an interview with public radio Rai, speaking from the famous Piazza San Marco, which suffered the worst damage from the floods.
Tourists dragged their heavy suitcases on high rubber boots or even barefoot in sunken alleys, while taxi drivers and gondolas were busy taking water out of their damaged boats.
The fire service said it had carried out more than 250 operations, as well as the allocation of additional boats to serve as ambulances,
About 150 firefighters were deployed to rescue those stranded on the sidewalks and to return the boats that had been anchored.
A 78-year-old man was killed by an electric shock after water swept his home, Italian media reported.
A massive infrastructure project aimed at protecting the city has been underway since 2003, but is hampered by high costs, corruption scandals and delays. The project includes building 78 gates that can be lifted to protect the Venetian lake as water rises, but a recent attempt to test parts of the barrier has caused concussions that have caused concern. The engineers discovered that the rust had caused parts of it.
Tables and chairs were scattered in front of luxury hotels, and people of all ages had to take cover from the storm, climbing windows out after the corridors sank.
"I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Christina, who lives in the city.