When we opened the door to our apartment in the Cannaregio district of Venice on December 3, 2010, here’s the scene we were greeted with:
Historic water level data from Venice shows that at 8:00 a.m. that day the water was at 131 cm.
An hour later the water level was at 136 cm— the high water mark for the day, and the third-highest water level recorded in 2010 — and it was starting to come in our front door:
By 12 noon the water level had dropped to 84 cm and the street was empty of water (that’s Catherine and Oliver under the umbrellas):
High water in Venice today was 144 cm as the city received its highest tide in 50 years.