floods in Tuscany
We are planning a summer trip to Tuscany. I am wondering if the recent floods will prevent rentals and travel in this region.
Barbara
Highland Park 11/25/12
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What floods are you referring to?
There have been massive floods all throughout Tuscany. Venice is 7 feet under water and there are floods in outlying areas Florence,Chianti, Arrubuzzo, etc all over the news if you google floods in Tuscany
Barbara, your reports of 7 foot floods in Venice are alarming and also for the rest of Tuscany.
I'm a little confused because Venice is a whole mountain range away from Tuscany.
I've searched all my usual sources and haven't found any other reports of 7 foot floods in Venice.
Some time back, on the 11th and 12th of this month Venice did have some higher than normal Acqua Alta but nothing approaching 7 feet.
While there were floods in southern Toscana at about the same time I haven't heard of any since.
Where did you see that report?
Venice has never been under 7 feet of water. Never. Not even during the Great Flood of November 4, 1966.
The last Acqua Alta of November 11, 2012 recorded a high tide of 149 cm. (5 feet) above the average sea level, which probably resulted in less than 70cm of flooding even in the worst areas. The acqua alta fenomenon is related to high tides, and as such, they recede within few hours from their peak.
The last flood in Florence was on November 4, 1966.
The Chianti area is mostly on hills, therefore flooding at most affects the small canyons along the Greve River.
The only flooding in Tuscany has occurred in the Maremma region (Prov. of Grosseto) earlier this month. I'm sure it won't have major effects on the rest of Tuscany, especially next Summer.
I will send you the links
People were waste high in water at st marks square and links for rushing water zones in outlying areas
Tuscany is not an outlying area of Venice. Summer is a long time from now. I doubt your trip will be impacted.
Googling "floods in Tuscany" brought up the massive mudslides that occured in the Cinque Terre over a year ago. I saw nothing more recent.
Edit - I did look again and saw there was some flooding in Tuscany, but it did not seem to be extreme. I still don't think it will affect your trip.
Are you referring to the flood of people rushing to the polls to vote in the primaries of the Democratic Party in Italy?
That's the only flood reported today in the Italian news. Otherwise it's pretty dry.
There was acqua alta in Venice two weeks ago (149cm), which has receded since. However, since Venice is 200 miles away from Tuscany you would need to have some major Hollywood production to see the Venetian acqua alta crossing the Apennines into Florence and lasting till summer.
Barbara,
I'd suggest continuing to plan a visit to Tuscany, as it's quite likely you won't have any problems.
I assume you're referring to THESE news reports. While these do indicate there have been some problems this year, these wouldn't cause me to alter travel plans for next summer.
Keep in mind that the Acqua Alta occurs every year in Venice, but unfortunately it was a bit higher than usual this time (hence the photos of people swimming in Piazza San Marco). The Tiber (Tevere) in Rome was also higher than normal so authorities closed the walkway along the river bank. One other thing to remember about Tuscany is that it contains many hill towns, which likely won't have a problem with flooding (although access to them could be an issue - some rail lines were disrupted this fall).
The "bottom line" - a lot can change between now and next summer, so I wouldn't be too concerned with the "floods" in Tuscany or the Acqua Alta in Venice. The floods in the Cinque Terre in Oct. 2011 didn't cause me to change my plans to visit in Sept. 2012, and I had a fantastic time!
Cheers!
I was in Tuscany during the rain & the floods. Although it did make getting around a little hard, we were still able to do it. Things were already back to normal in some areas. I am sure it will be fine by summer.
As far as Venice goes, we were there about 6 days after it flooded.. Couldn't even tell there was anything wrong.
At this time there are heavy rains all over Italy and in Tuscany as well, but I think you can rest easy about this summer.