VENICE, Italy, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The lagoon city of Venice, Italy, is in its high-water season and is under water after a week of rain, with flooded ground-floor stores and apartments.
Flood levels reached 110 centimeters (43.3 inches) Monday, and pedestrians used temporary elevated bridges to cover flooded St. Mark's Square and other locations in the city of islands on the Adriatic Sea, which dates back to the 10th century and uses canals as streets, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Monday.
There have been varying causes for the recent regular flooding of Venice, officials said, including decades of groundwater pumping that led to the gradual decline of the city's foundations, increasing rainstorms, a rising sea floor due to natural gas extraction and a drop in the city's elevation due to shifting tectonic plates under the Adriatic Sea, the news agency said.
