Journalism of Courage
The water reached 1.87 meters (6.14 feet) above sea level Tuesday, the second-highest level ever recorded in the city and just 7 centimeters (2{ inches) lower than the historic 1966 flood. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
The water was so high that nothing less than thigh-high boots afforded protection. A woman sits in a chair in a flooded St. Mark's Square, in Venice. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
People walk in a flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
``Venice is on its knees,'' Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said on Twitter. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
High water floods the inside of St. Mark's Basilica, in Venice, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. The crypt beneath St. Mark's Basilica was inundated for only the second time in its history, with water entering through the windows and bypassing all defenses. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
The flooding was caused by heavy rains coinciding a full moon that brought high tides that were pushed into Venice by southerly winds. At the same time, rising sea levels because of climate change make the city built amid a system of canals even more vulnerable. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Tourists push their floating luggage in a flooded St. Mark's Square, in Venice, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
A man stands in his shop flooded with water, in Venice, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Water poured through wooden boards that shop and hotel owners have previously placed in front of doors to hold back water during flooding. (Andrea Merola/ANSA via AP)
