Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 14 November 2019
Venice ‘on its knees’ after second-worst flood ever recorded

By COLLEEN BARRY celed concerts Wednes-
LUCA BRUNO day and Thursday evening.
Associated Press Tourists floated suitcases
VENICE, Italy (AP) — The through St. Mark’s Square,
worst flooding in Venice in where officials removed
more than 50 years prompt- walkways to prevent them
ed calls Wednesday to bet- from drifting away. Wood-
ter protect the historic city en boards that shop and
from rising sea levels as of- hotel owners have placed
ficials calculated hundreds on doors in previous floods
of millions of euros in dam- couldn’t hold back the wa-
age. ter.
The water reached 1.87 The water was so high that
meters (6.14 feet) above nothing less than thigh-
average sea level Tuesday, high boots afforded pro-
the second-highest level tection, and one man was
ever recorded in the city even filmed swimming
and just 7 centimeters (2½ bare-chested in St. Mark’s
inches) lower than the his- Square during what ap-
toric 1966 flood. Another peared to be the height of
wave of exceptionally high the flood.
water followed Wednes- “I have often seen St.
day. Tourist pull their suitcases along catwalks set up during a high tide, in Venice, Wednesday, Nov. Mark’s Square covered
“Venice is on its knees,’’ 13, 2019. with water,’’ Venice’s pa-
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said Associated Press triarch, Monsignor Frances-
on Twitter. “St. Mark’s Ba- co Moraglia, told report-
silica has sustained serious to start a pump in his dwell- Damage was also reported ed. ers. “Yesterday there were
damage, like the entire city ing, said Danny Carrella, at the Ca’ Pesaro modern Italy’s culture minister, Dario waves that seemed to be
and its islands.” an official on the island of art gallery, where a short Franceschini, said no dam- the seashore.”
One death was blamed on 3,500 inhabitants. circuit set off a fire, and at age had been reported to Brugnaro said damage
the flooding, on the barrier In Venice, the crypt be- La Fenice theater, where art collections in museums would reach hundreds of
island of Pellestrina. A man neath St. Mark’s Basilica authorities turned off elec- throughout the city. Many millions of euros. He called
in his 70s was apparently was inundated for only the tricity as a precaution after sites remained closed to on Rome to declare a state
electrocuted when he tried second time in its history. the control room was flood- tourists, and La Fenice can- of emergency.q

Auditors urge EU to quickly fix migrant policy shortfalls

By LORNE COOK Italy with their European
Associated Press partners. But member
BRUSSELS (AP) — Auditors countries only agreed to
on Wednesday urged the relocate 98,256 of them,
European Union to improve and in the end, just 34,705
its approach to easing mi- people found new homes.
grant pressure on Greece The auditors said the
and Italy as people lan- schemes “underper-
guish in camps on the formed” chiefly because
Greek Islands and to draw the Italian and Greek au-
lessons from its shortcom- thorities were unable to
ings before a new crisis hits. quickly identify candidates
Well over 1 million people or encourage them to ap-
arrived in Europe in 2015, ply to be moved.
most of them fleeing con- Fast-track asylum process-
flict in Syria. Greece and ing meant to identify eli-
Italy were overwhelmed, gible people in the Greek
and the arrivals sparked islands for return to Turkey
a political crisis as nations was taking on average 215
bickered over who should days last year, instead of
take charge and whether just a few days, the report
to help. said.
As pressure from member The auditors said some
countries built for a quick Migrants wait to board on buses after their disembarkation at the port of Elefsina, near Athens, on people in the Samos camp
response, the EU came Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019. had been there waiting for
up with a series of stop- Associated Press two years, and that others
gap emergency measures who arrived in 2018 were
and funds. Greece has re- response, European Court “It’s better to take action actions don’t always lead given interview dates as
ceived around 2.2 billion of Auditors member Leo at a time when there is to the most judicious ac- late as 2023.
euros ($2.4 billion) since Brincat said now is the time no peaking of the migra- tions.” In Italy, asylum applica-
then; Italy around 1 billion “for stock-taking, putting tion crisis,” Brincat said, Among the EU measures tions lodged in 2015 took
($1.1 billion). the house in order, and because poor timing “is was a quota scheme initial- on average over four years
Unveiling a report Wednes- even taking the necessary bound to lead to knee-jerk ly meant to share 160,000 to reach the final appeal
day on the EU’s migrant remedial action.” reactions, and knee-jerk re- refugees in Greece and stage.q