Forecasting hurricanes, snowstorms, and your picnic: How weather forecasts work

On this week's episode of the "Where Did You Get This Number?" podcast, David Parkinson, weather producer at CBS News, discussed the science and challenges behind weather forecasting with host Anthony Salvanto, CBS News' director of Elections and Surveys.

Parkinson said many people have misconceptions about how the weather is predicted, often ignoring the numbers and basing their day plans on the tiny icon they see on their weather apps.
 
"People are really bad about data," Parkinson said. "If we say that it's a 50-50 chance of rain, that means 5 out of every 10 of those days it would rain, and 5 out of every 10 of those days it won't rain. It doesn't mean there will be rain for half of the day, which is what some people think."


So what can weather reporters do to push people to make the right decisions when disasters are involved and it becomes a matter of life and death? Parkinson says it comes down to making massive sets of data comprehensible to the average viewer.

"It's about taking those numbers and communicating a story about them," Parkinson said.

Parkinson also referenced a study which found viewers would rather hear every prediction, good or bad, than not know at all. He suggested weather reporters just take their best shot.

"People will expect you to be wrong but they still want to hear what you have to say," Parkinson said. "They won't blame you for predicting incorrectly, unless you predicted something outrageously bad."

Parkinson recommended viewers to become more weather literate by visiting their local weather service website and reading their forecast discussions.

"They go through great pains to explain how they have come up with their forecasts," Parkinson said.

"That gives you a real glimpse into the process of making the forecast."

 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/weather-forecasting-hurricanes-snowstorms-where-did-you-get-this-number-podcast/
 

Australia Wildfires: Hundreds of Fires Continue to Burn Amid 'Catastrophic' Threat

More than 100 wildfires continued to burn in eastern Australia Thursday amid a sweltering heat wave, placing thousands of resident at risk.

The fire danger was rated "catastrophic" in areas of central Queensland, the first time the highest danger rating had been applied to the state, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

She said 34 schools had been closed in the most threatened regions. She warned families not to go out, to keep together and prepare to leave if needed.

On Wednesday, more than 190 fires broke out.

“What we experienced yesterday was off the charts,” Palaszczuk said Thursday. “No one has ever recorded these kinds of conditions ever in the history of Queensland.”

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Katarina Carroll said homes had been destroyed since Saturday in areas where the fire danger remained too high for teams to enter and assess damage. She expected that fewer than 10 homes had been lost so far. No injuries or deaths have been reported.

High winds, dry air and severe heatwave conditions were combining to make the fire danger extreme, with 190 blazes raging by late Wednesday, Carroll said.

"Thunderstorms are going through those areas as we speak. There will be no rain from thunderstorms, in fact, they are adding to the problem," Carroll said.

"We have never, ever, in this state, been in this situation before. Not at a catastrophic level and this is uncharted waters," Carroll added.

Earlier this week, a wildfire stoked by heatwave conditions destroyed at least four homes, forced the evacuation of hundreds of others and razed 76 square miles of farmland and woodland.

 

https://weather.com/news/news/2018-11-28-australia-queensland-wildfires-threat

Climate change increases India’s vulnerability to extreme weather events: Report

India is all set to submit the second biennial update report (BUR) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which takes stock of India’s action to tackle climate change and notes that India is on track to achieve the major milestones promised.
 

The first BUR report was submitted in December 2015. The draft of the second BUR reveals that India over 5,800 people and thousands of animals died across India during 2014-17 due to extreme weather events whose frequency is rising due to climate change.
 

The draft report enumerates impact of climate change on pattern of India’s rainfall, and temperature while expressing concerns about India’s climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture and forestry for livelihood.

 

 

https://india.mongabay.com/2018/12/04/climate-change-increases-indias-vulnerability-to-extreme-weather-events-report/

Local lawmakers weigh in on Trump administration's dire climate report

A new Trump administration report on climate change warns of dire economic and environmental consequences if drastic action isn't taken on carbon emissions, and local politicians are taking notice.

The 1,600-page report released by 13 federal agencies says weather disasters caused by climate change have cost over $400 billion since 2015. 

"Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities," researchers said in the latest National Climate Assessment.

President Donald Trump doesn't believe the new report and said the U.S. shouldn't be expected to act on climate change if other industrial countries like Japan and China aren't.

"One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence, but we're not necessarily such believers," the president said. "You look at our air and our water and it's right now at a record clean."

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/11/30/do-area-lawmakers-believe-climate-change-report/2147299002/

The UN’s Climate Change Conference is Meeting...in Poland’s Coal Country

World leaders are convening for the United Nation’s latest climate conference in Katowice, Poland to discuss the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to lower greenhouse gas emissions globally to limit the worst effects of climate change.

Ironically, this two-week meeting is taking place in the heart of Poland’s coal country. As a fuel source, coal accounts for roughly half of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, but the conference center currently dedicated to cutting these emissions is literally decorated with mounds of coal.


Poland is by far the EU’s largest producer of hard coal, and Katowice is known to have terrible air quality due to the area’s strong reliance on burning coal for energy. The country relied on coal for about 80 percent of its electricity in 2015.

Poland has been slowly moving away from coal as part of the EU’s larger mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But in his opening remarks Monday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said coal “does not contradict the protection of the climate and the progress of climate protection.”

If the world is to truly prevent climate change—and the extreme weather disasters and rising seas that accompanies it—the attendees of the UN climate conference will have to disagree with Duda.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report published in October, coal will have to be almost entirely phased out by 2050 to limit the rise in global temperatures above 1.5 degrees Celsius.

http://fortune.com/2018/12/03/climate-change-conference-poland-coal/

Most Canadian cities are unprepared for climate change disasters, says study

A study suggests most Canadian cities have yet to assess the threat posed by climate change despite being the most exposed to any weather disasters it could cause.

A survey of 63 municipalities of all sizes from coast to coast found major gaps in how most are preparing for coming conditions and in how they are reducing their contribution to the problem.

“Cities are the most vulnerable government to climate change in Canada but have the least resources in order to manage the problem, so it’s imperative that they have some strategy or plan,” said Jason Thistlethwaite, a University of Waterloo professor and co-author of the paper published in the journal Climatic Change.

Thistlethwaite and his colleagues measured the plans against 46 indicators that include baseline information, goals, implementation, evaluation and public participation.

“Almost all plans failed to include an assessment of the municipality’s vulnerability to specific climate change impacts,” the paper says.

Only seven communities had identified specific neighbourhoods that might be vulnerable. A dozen identified specific local industries at risk.

Many cities hadn’t done enough research to be able to write a comprehensive plan.

Scientists are increasingly able to attribute extreme weather events to the influence of climate change. And when floods or wildfires destroy lives and property, it’s usually in a city.

“Where are most of our people and property?” Thistlethwaite said. “They’re in cities. There’s a concentration there of exposure.”

Cities are caught in a bind, he said. Not only are they already strapped for cash to fill potholes and run buses, but their main source of income can conflict with the need to plan for climate change.

 
https://nationalpost.com/news/bit-frightening-study-finds-most-canadian-cities-fail-on-climate-change-plans

Below freezing temperatures forecast for all 50 states -- and then, snow

First the cold, then the snow.

A widespread cold snap that will encompass nearly the entire U.S. this week will be followed by a potentially disruptive snowstorm in the South and East by the weekend. 

"On Wednesday, temperatures will be near to below average from coast to coast," the National Weather Service said, with some of the most unusual cold expected across the eastern U.S.

How cold? Early Wednesday and/or Thursday morning, temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing in portions of all 50 states, even in normally mild Florida and Hawaii. (In Florida, only the Panhandle should reach 32 degrees, while in Hawaii, the sub-freezing temps will be atop the Mauna Kea volcano.)

Overall, temperatures will be some 10 to 20 degrees below average for much of the week, the National Weather Service said.  By week's end, cities such as Minneapolis and Chicago will only see high temperatures in the teens and 20s. 

The cold air comes directly from the Canadian Arctic, the weather service said. 

Then, the snow: A storm "is expected to bring a widespread wintry mess of snow, sleet and freezing rain through parts of the nation's southern tier and possibly the East Coast late this week into next weekend," the Weather Channel warned.

More specifically, "a weather system will develop and gain strength from Texas into the Southeast U.S. heading into the weekend," weather.us meteorologist Ryan Maue said. "This southern track means the cold air to the north will allow for frozen precipitation, including snow." 

Although it will be too warm to snow in much of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, the state will instead have to deal with severe storms and potential flooding, AccuWeather said.

By Saturday or Saturday night. Snow, sleet or freezing rain could affect travel from portions of northeast Georgia into the Carolinas and southern Virginia, the Weather Channel warned.  

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/12/03/cold-snap-then-snow-first-week-december/2193896002/

Chicago Weather: Person hit by falling ice in Uptown; freezing rain leads to slick roads

CHICAGO (WLS) --

A person was struck by falling ice Friday on Chicago's North Side.

Chicago Fire Department officials said the person was treated at the scene near North Broadway and West Lawrence Avenue in the city's Uptown neighborhood. CFD did not release further details.
The melting ice created a big danger this week for people walking and driving through downtown Chicago. Even more large chunks fell from skyscrapers and high-rises Thursday.

As a result more roads and sidewalks were blocked off. Some people actually had to dart out of the way to avoid getting hit.
One driver was not so lucky, with ice crashing through a parked car.

Freezing rain overnight wrapped up before the Friday morning commute, but some slick spots remained.

ABC7 Stormtracker Live checked out conditions on the northbound Edens Expressway, where the roads were mostly clear with some slick spots. Another potential hazard for drivers was fog Friday morning.

https://abc7chicago.com/weather/chicago-weather-person-hit-by-falling-ice/4796135/

Children return to school 3 weeks after California wildfire

YUBA CITY, Calif. — Eight-year-old Bella Maloney woke up next to her little brother in a queen-size bed at a Best Western hotel and for breakfast ate a bagel and cream cheese that her mother brought up from the lobby.

And then she was off to school for the first time in nearly a month.

For Bella, brother Vance and thousands of other youngsters in Northern California who lost their homes or their classrooms in last month's deadly wildfire, life crept a little closer to normal Monday when school finally resumed in most of Butte County.

"They're ready to get back," Bella's mother, Erica Hail, said of her children. "I think they're sick of Mom and Dad." At school, "they get to have time alone in their own space and their own grade and they get to just be by themselves."

Schools in the county had been closed since Nov. 8, when the blaze swept through the town of Paradise and surrounding areas, destroying nearly 14,000 homes and killing at least 88 people in the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century. About two dozen people remain unaccounted for, down from a staggering high of 1,300 a few weeks ago.

About 31,000 students in all have been away from school since the disaster. On Monday, nearly all of them went back, though some of them attended class in other buildings because their schools were damaged or destroyed, or inaccessible inside evacuation zones.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/children-return-school-3-weeks-after-california-wildfire-n943296

Winter Storm Bruce: 1 Dead In Maine Crash; Nearly 3,000 Flights Canceled

One person was killed in a vehicular crash in Maine Tuesday morning as a result of Winter Storm Bruce, State police said the unidentified person was killed near Liberty in a crash that occurred around 9:30 a.m. local time. The crash involved two trucks, a pickup truck and a box truck.

Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 flights were canceled during two of the busiest travel days of the year as Winter Storm Bruce barrelled towards New England, leaving thousands stranded.

The storm pushed into New England early Tuesday, closing schools and businesses and bringing wet heavy snow that downed some trees and power lines. More than 71,000 customers tracked in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire were without power Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

Nationwide, more than 2,875 flights were canceled Sunday and Monday, according to FlightAware. More than 2,000 of the cancellations occurred at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where more than eight inches fell. Chicago's Midway International and Kansas City International saw the greater portion of their cancelations Sunday but had lingering issues into Monday morning.

In Michigan, a 48-year-old woman was killed when she lost control of her car on M-66 made slick by ice Monday morning in Ionia County, Michigan State Police announced. The driver's car slid sideways into the path of a pickup truck. No one else was injured in the crash.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 47,000 tracked customers remained without power in Illinois, according to PowerOutage.us.

 

 https://weather.com/storms/winter/news/2018-11-25-winter-storm-bruce-impacts-travel

Chicago Weather: Thousands remain without power after snowstorm hits Chicago area

PARK RIDGE, Ill. (WLS) --

The first major blizzard of the season left thousands of travelers stranded and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands to homes and businesses.

Tuesday morning, crews are still working to get the power back on As of 9:45 a.m., 43,000 ComEd customers are without power, with most outages north of Chicago and in the northwest suburbs.

The power outages come as frigid temperatures move in, with highs in the 20s Tuesday and wind chills in the teens.

Some people in Park Ridge are being told they might not get it back until Wednesday.

"I saw the flash in the sky about 2 in the morning," said Tom Stumpf, who lost power. "I went, 'Oh probably a power out.'"

The familiar sound after a nasty storm, the hum of generators, filled the block near Talcott Road and Cumberland Avenue in Park Ridge. Power went out on one side of Clifton Avenue during Sunday night's storm, and neighbors had to spring into action.

"We've lived here a couple of years and never had an outage this long," said Craig Washburn, who lost power.

Washburn said his neighbor picked up a generator at 5 a.m. on Monday.

https://abc7chicago.com/weather/chicago-weather-thousands-remain-without-power-after-snowstorm-hits-chicago-area/4771424/

'Bus driver from heaven' rescued children from California wildfire

Paradise, California (CNN)Kevin McKay drove the school bus along gridlocked, dark roads as pockets of fire burned all around. Nearly two dozen elementary school children were on board with him.

Smoke began to fill the bus, so McKay took off a shirt. He and two teachers on the bus tore it into pieces and doused them with water. The children held the damp pieces of cloth to their mouths and breathed through them.

 

He had been on the job, driving the bus for Ponderosa Elementary School in the northern California city of Paradise, only for a few months. Now, McKay was ferrying the 22 stranded children to safety as the Camp Fire scorched everything in its path. It would take five hours for them to reach safety.

 

The fire had broken out early November 8, forcing many to evacuate Butte County. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/18/us/wildfire-school-bus-rescue/index.html

Calif. Authorities Raise Wildfire Death Toll To 80, Lower Number Of Missing Persons

Authorities in California have added an additional fatality to the official death toll of the Camp Fire, bringing its total number of deaths to at least 77.

The number of those unaccounted for decreased to 993 — about 300 fewer than Saturday's count, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said on Sunday.

At least 80 people have died throughout California since wildfires broke out earlier this month. Three of fatalities were from the Woolsey Fire in the southern part of the state.

The fire itself has grown smaller to 150,000 acres, and is now 65 percent contained. Authorities say they expect full containment by Nov. 30.

Over 5,300 personnel are battling the flames. More than 10,360 homes have been destroyed — the entire community of Paradise was reduced to a wasteland of ash and burned out buildings and cars.

 https://www.npr.org/2018/11/19/669125749/calif-authorities-raise-wildfire-death-toll-to-80-lower-number-of-missing-person

More people suffer from heart attacks in bad weather: study

As early as 1926, researchers from Massachusetts began to see that more cases of thrombosis, the blood clots that cause a heart attack, occurred during the cold of winter than at other times of the year.
Although no one knew the reasons behind this, it became such common knowledge among doctors that it even found its way into a well-known medical illustration from decades ago, showing a businessman walking into a gusty snowstorm from a cozy restaurant, a smoldering cigarette at his feet, clutching his chest in pain.
Now, Moman Mohammad from Lund University, Sweden, and his colleagues have presented the results from a major study of all cardiovascular patients who came to Swedish cardiology units between 1998 and 2013. All told, 280,000 people were included in the assessment.
The researchers collected weather data on temperature, wind, precipitation, air pressure, and sunshine, for the same period and checked whether there were actually connections between the weather and heart health.
And there was.

More heart attacks in bad weather

In general, the risk of ending up in a cardiology department with a myocardial infarction, which is the medical name for a heart attack, was slightly higher in bad weather. In this case the researchers defined bad weather as when the temperature or air pressure dropped, when the wind strength increased, or the amount of sunshine decreased.
The strongest connection was linked to temperatures. The risk of a heart attack increased markedly when the minimum temperature fell below freezing. This applied to many different subgroups of patients and for different regions.
However, there were also signs that people could adapt to weather conditions.
The results indicated that people in northern Sweden coped with cold days better than those who live further south. In the northernmost regions, there was no correlation between cold and heart attack, the researchers wrote.
But Swedish people in the north were not completely immune to bad weather. They also had more heart problems on days where there was more snow and wind.





 http://sciencenordic.com/more-people-suffer-heart-attacks-bad-weather-study

Northeast braces for frigid weather on Thanksgiving: What to expect for the holiday

Record cold is headed to the Northeast for Thanksgiving.

It could be the chilliest Turkey Day on record for New York and Boston, with wind chills below zero in some areas on Thanksgiving morning.

 -- A minor clipper system is moving from the Great Lakes to the Northeast Monday night into Tuesday morning, which could bring two to six inches of snow to parts of New England, as well as rain for the coast.

-- No major storms are in the forecast for Thanksgiving.

-- Rain is headed to the West Coast Wednesday night and into Thursday, which will provide some relief to firefighters battling the deadly wildfires.

-- On Thanksgiving many Northeast residents could wake up to temperatures in the teens or single digits.

-- Thursday is likely to be the coldest Thanksgiving along the East Coast since 1996.

-- Boston could experience its coldest Thanksgiving on record since 1901.

If you are bundling up to hit the road for Thanksgiving, be mindful of the dangers on a week when so many are traveling. 

The National Safety Council projects that 433 people may be killed and another 49,400 may be seriously hurt in car accidents over the Thanksgiving holiday, which runs from Wednesday night to Sunday night. 

Last year, Thanksgiving was the second deadliest holiday on the roads, the safety council said. The deadliest holiday was the Fourth of July. 

 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/unsettled-weather-northeast-arctic-blast-thanksgiving/story?id=59287955

Nine dead and one missing after storms batter Italy

Nine people are reported dead and one missing today after storms swept across Italy, destroying roads and flooding towns and cities.

 

Much of northern Italy remains under red alert today, after two days of severe storms in which much of the country was lashed by torrential rains. Winds of up to 180 kilometers an hour have been reported in Liguria, and waves up to seven meters high.

So far the storm has reportedly left nine people dead, one missing and dozens injured.

Two people were killed when a tree hit a car they were travelling in near Frosinone, south of Rome.

A volunteer firefighter was reportedly killed by a falling tree in Alto Adige. Falling trees also killed a man in Terracina south of the capital, and another in the Naples region, authorities said.

5.800 firefighters responded to over 7,000 incidents yesterday, the Italian fire service said.

More than 3500 calls were for fallen or dangerous trees, the main cause of fatal accidents.

Near Savona in the northwest, a falling piece of cornice struck and killed a woman.

A boat owner is still missing after a storm-tossed sailboat was smashed against a pier in Calabria on Sunday. He was the owner of the Canadian-flagged vessel, from which others may also be missing.
Authorities said today that a woman died when her home was engulfed by a mudslide and rocks in the northern region of Trentino.

A man was killed while kitesurfing on Monday afternoon near the town of Cattolica on the Adriatic coast, with the local press saying strong winds had blown his board into the rocks.

Italian media have also reported that around 170 people, tourists and hotel staff, were stranded by heavy snowfall at the Stelvio Pass on the Swiss border.

Dozens of people are reported wounded, among which there are also several firefighters.

There was widespread damage to roads and property across many regions. A bridge collapsed due to heavy rains at Ovaro, Friuli on Monday.

Record high winds were recorded in Liguria, with the highest at 180 kilometers per hour in Savona.

 https://www.thelocal.it/20181029/eight-dead-and-many-missing-after-severe-storms-batter-italy

CDOT plow tips over during storm

 

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KKTV) - The storm Tuesday night caused problems for some drivers, including a Colorado Department of Transportation snow plow operator.

CDOT told 11 News the driver lost control on a snowy part of Highway 24 between Woodland Park and Divide.

Eastbound Highway 24 had to be closed while crews cleaned up all the sand the truck was carrying.
CDOT said, while firefighters were on the way to the crash, another driver ran into the firetruck.

 https://www.kktv.com/content/news/CDOT-plow-tips-over-during-storm-499107711.html

Arizona storm chaser publishes incredible video highlighting the desert monsoon season

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- One of my favorite storm chasers is at it again.

Mike Olbinski, who focuses most of his chases on capturing the beauty of the Arizona thunderstorms during the summer monsoon season, has released his annual video compilation.

"Monsoon V" features "a pretty dang good show in 2018, starting off with a decent dust storm on July 5th, then the best haboob chase I've ever had on July 9th, an epic green hail core on July 11th and finally another fantastic dust storm day on August 2nd," Olbinski wrote on his Vimeo page.

"Sprinkled in there...more dust storm, some at night, spectacular lightning, and tons of microbursts and stormy clouds, plus a few rotating supercells to put some icing on the cake. It was one of the best monsoon seasons I've chased..."

This year's treks totaled 15,000 miles zig-zagging across Arizona over 32 days.

"I love doing these films so much. So much hard work for months on end goes into capturing them," he said. "Sleep deprivation, tons of gas money, crappy food and yes, sometimes missing storms I wish I had been on... But the highs were amazing."

This year his three kids came along on some of the chases.

"Chasing with my kiddos...sharing the July 9th haboob bonanza with Lyla and Eli...or an all-night chase with my youngest, Asher. They were so awesome to have along."

Enjoy!






 https://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/arizona-storm-chaser-publishes-incredible-video-highlighting-the-desert-monsoon-season

Mother of 1-year-old swept away in hurricane flood waters faces criminal charges

MONROE, N.C. —
The mother of a 1-year-old who was swept into floodwaters created by Hurricane Florence has been charged in the boy's death.

The Union County Sheriff's Office said on its Facebook page 20-year-old Dazia Ideah Lee of Charlotte is charged with involuntary manslaughter and driving on a closed or unopened highway.

Lee told news outlets she wasn't from the area and was unfamiliar with the roads. Authorities said the water from a rain-swollen creek pushed her car off the road as she tried to cross a bridge and left her stuck in a group of trees on the night of Sept. 16. Lee said she was able to get Kaiden Lee-Welch out of the car, but the water caused her to lose her grip.

"I couldn't hold on anymore, and he let go," Lee told Fox 46. 

Multiple law enforcement teams searched for Kaiden that night and again in the morning, when his body was found.

Lee told the Washington Post that she had seen people successfully crossing the bridge, although she also saw barricades nearby.

“I can tell you that the barricades were up there,” Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said the day after Kaiden was swept away, according to the Charlotte Observer. “Whether someone else moved those barricades and she drove around ‘em, I can’t say.”

Lee tearfully spoke to reporters after her son's body was found, desperately explaining how hard she tried to save him.

“I did everything I could,” Lee said. “From the moment I was pregnant until the moment I lost him. I did everything I could to save and protect him.”

She noticed that much of the response to Kaiden's death on social media was critical of her.

Comments included: “Mom made a bad decision,” “Although I feel for this child, I do not feel for the mother,” and “Negligence."

Cathey defended the decision to charge Lee.

“The tragic death of this child and the circumstances surrounding this case are heartbreaking,” Cathey said. “We continue to pray for all those suffering as a result of this child’s death. However, after a very thorough investigation and taking all facts into consideration and applying the law, we feel that these charges are appropriate.”

https://www.wesh.com/article/mother-of-1-year-old-swept-away-in-hurricane-flood-waters-faces-criminal-charges/24465378

Venice Flooding Is Worst in a Decade; Severe Weather in Italy Kills at Least 11

 

ROME — Violent thunderstorms, small tornadoes that blew roofs off homes, and hurricane-force winds lashed Italy from Piedmont to Sicily early this week, leaving at least 11 people dead, many more injured and firefighters and other rescue workers scrambling to respond to emergency calls.

In Venice, ferocious winds drove the high tide to more than 61 inches, or 156 centimeters, above average sea level on Monday, one of the highest levels ever recorded, plunging much of the city under water. It was the highest flood in a decade in Venice, though far short of the record, more than 76 inches above level, set in November 1966.

Venetians and tourists tottered on raised walkways throughout the city, while others waded through thigh-high water. Many shops and restaurants flooded when barriers across doorways failed to keep the water out.

Near the covered entrance to the basilica, the mosaic floor was under as much as 35 inches of water, it said, “soaking the monumental bronze doors, columns and marble.” Water levels remained above ground in the basilica for 16 hours.

“It may not be visible to the eye, but structures age because of the salt water drenching the bricks, which were not meant to remain underwater for long; that goes for bronze, too,” said Pierpaolo Campostrini, one of the board members. “The bricks are like sponges, and if the water levels don’t drop, the water rises several meters to the mosaic level.”

“In one day, the basilica aged 20 years,” he said.

 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/world/europe/venice-floods-italy.html