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After the high tides of the week and as Venice prepares to face a new tide at noon this Sunday, the rain stopped on Saturday. It was a day of great cleansing and solidarity. Little by little, a network of several hundred volunteers settled in the daily life of the Venetians. Reportage.
With our special correspondent in Venice, Anne Tréca
They are Venetians or come from other cities. High school students, students, activists, active or retired, with brooms, brushes, bleach, they offer their arms and goodwill to those who need it after the passage of salt water.
" With the broom, we will take everything that is destroyed by the water and do whatever we are asked to do, " said one participant. To coordinate hundreds of volunteers, an association has emerged. Initially a simple group of students quickly became the "angels of Venice". Hyper reactive with their social networks, they leave the teams in the neighborhoods. Some clean, collect waste, others help residents to defend themselves from the next flood.
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" Usually we intervene to move, we ride everything on the ground floor, we cut the power that is not a big friend of the water. Moreover, if there is 1.60m of water we will not be able to work here, we will have to move the tables, the armchairs, unplug the computers. It is also necessary to intervene in all the bars, to move the dishwashers, to try to save what is not yet ruined. "
The rise of waters expected this Sunday is still catastrophic for the city.
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