Italian council is flooded immediately after rejecting measures on climate change
Ad Feedback
Video Ad Feedback
World News
A photographer takes pictures in a flooded St. Mark's Square, in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019. The high tide reached a peak of 127cm (4.1ft) at 10:35am while an even higher level of 140cm(4.6ft) was predicted for later Tuesday evening. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Luca Bruno/AP
Now playing
01:21
Venice hit by worst floods in 50 years
Ukraine Armed Forces, Special Forces Command
Now playing
01:10
Video shows 'kamikaze' drone's POV moments before striking Russian tank
CNN
Now playing
03:41
'They're afraid of us': Ukrainian soldier describes taking down Russian helicopter
Getty Images
Now playing
02:54
Here's how Taiwan has made the US-China relationship more complicated
Now playing
01:42
Here's what Germany's economy minister proposes for tackling inflation
Maxar
Now playing
03:48
Satellite images appear to show Russia stealing Ukraine's grain
Now playing
04:55
World Economic Forum Founder stresses cooperation to tackle war and pandemic challenges
@SobolLubov
Now playing
01:40
Concertgoers in Russia chant "F**k the war!"
CNN
Now playing
04:04
Ex-Pakistan PM doubles down on allegations US plotted his removal
MEDYKA, POLAND - MARCH 30: People, mainly women and children, make their way through Medyka border crossing after journeying from war-torn Ukraine on March 30, 2022 in Medyka, Poland. The Polish government has said it may spend €24 billion this year hosting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, and is seeking more support from the European Union. With more than 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees, Poland is now the country with the second-largest foreign refugee population after Turkey. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Now playing
04:37
'Unprecedented hospitality': Treatment of Ukraine's refugees highlights European hypocrisy (Opinion)
CNN
Now playing
02:59
See what capabilities Sweden's army could bring to NATO
Now playing
00:49
Europe's tallest active volcano erupts lava into the night sky
CNN
Now playing
02:43
Woman drives truck to the front lines of Putin's invasion
CNN
Now playing
01:28
'I'm smiling': Ret. Lt. Gen. Hertling reacts to Putin news
CNN
Now playing
03:57
Holocaust survivors meet nearly 80 years later
CNN
Now playing
02:57
Eurovision winner says song is 'anthem of our victory' for Ukraine
This photo taken on March 21, 2022 shows paramilitary police officers conducting a search at the site of the China Eastern Airlines plane crash in Tengxian county, Wuzhou city, in China's southern Guangxi region. - A China Eastern passenger jet carrying 132 people crashed onto a mountainside in southern China on March 21 causing a large fire, shortly after losing contact with air traffic control and dropping thousands of metres in just three minutes. - China OUT (Photo by CNS / AFP) / China OUT (Photo by -/CNS/AFP via Getty Images)
CNS/AFP/Getty Images
Now playing
01:58
WSJ: Flight data suggest Chinese plane crash was intentional
CNN
—
Veneto regional council, which is located on Venice’s Grand Canal, was flooded for the first time in its history on Tuesday night – just after it rejected measures to combat climate change.
The historic Italian city has been brought to its knees this week by the worst flooding there in more than 50 years.
And the council chamber in Ferro Fini Palace started to take in water around 10 p.m. local time, as councilors were debating the 2020 regional budget, Democratic Party councilor Andrea Zanoni said in a long Facebook post.
“Ironically, the chamber was flooded two minutes after the majority League, Brothers of Italy, and Forza Italia parties rejected our amendments to tackle climate change,” Zanoni, who is deputy chairman of the environment committee, said in the post, which also has photographs of the room under water.
Among the rejected amendments were measures to fund renewable sources, to replace diesel buses with “more efficient and less polluting ones,” to scrap polluting stoves and reduce the impact of plastics, he said.
Zanoni went on to accuse Veneto regional president Luca Zaia, who is a member of Matteo Salvini’s far-right League Party, of presenting a budget “with no concrete actions to combat climate change.”
The regional council’s spokesman Alessandro Ovizach confirmed to CNN that the council was flooded after discussing amendments to the 2020 budget – without specifying which ones.
The council’s president, the League’s Roberto Ciambetti, rejected Zanoni’s accusations in a statement to CNN.
“Beyond propaganda and deceptive reading, we are voting (for) a regional budget that spent €965 million over the past three years in the fight against air pollution, smog, which is a determining factor in climate change,” said the statement.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
A city worker helps a woman cross a gangway in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, November 17.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Awakening/Getty Images
Pumps spout water from a flooded restaurant on November 17.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images
A man sits on a stepladder inside a shop as a woman walks down a flooded street.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
A flooded St. Mark's Square is seen on Friday, November 15, in Venice, Italy.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Valle
People traverse a provisional footpath built over flood waters on Friday, November 15, in Venice, Italy.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Silvia Longhi
Guests inspect high tidal waters inside a Venice hotel, on Friday, November 15.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Silvia Longhi
Volunteers treat damaged music sheets from the historical archive of the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, on Friday, November 15. Important music sheets have been damaged by unexpected flooding throughout the city of Venice.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
A man carries luggage Friday as he wades through the flood.
A woman checks the state of books from renowned bookstore "Acqua Alta" (High Water) on Friday after flooding in Venice.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
A woman with a selfie stick makes her through a flooded St. Mark's Square.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
People wade Friday through a flooded Venice alley.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
People wearing waterproof shoe covers walk through floodwater on Thursday, November 14, at St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Andrea Zanoni
In a photo taken on Tuesday, November 12, flooding is seen inside Ferro Fini Palace in Venice. Democratic Party councilor Andrea Zanoni said on Facebook that the Palace's council chamber started to take in water around 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday, as councilors were debating the 2020 regional budget.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
A group of Gondoliers are seen on a pier in Venice, after the city suffered its highest tide in 50 years.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Handout/Filippo Attili/Palazzo Chigi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte surveys flood damage in Venice on November 14.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
Members of the municipal police stand in water by St. Mark's Basilica on November 14.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
Head of the Forza Italia party and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, second from right, assesses the flood damage on November 14.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Simone Padovani/Awakening/Getty Images
A shopkeeper throws out water from his flooded store on Wednesday, November 13.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
A woman sits in a chair in a flooded St. Mark's Square on November 13.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
People walk past a stranded water taxi after it was washed from its mooring by the high tide.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
A woman crosses a flooded St. Mark's Square on November 13, after an exceptionally high tide inundated the area overnight.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
A woman walks her dog through a flooded street on November 13.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
A general view shows a man crossing the flooded St. Mark's Square on November 13.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
Police officers patrol a flooded St. Mark's Square during the high tide on November 12.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
A man stands inside a restaurant barricaded from the flooding on November 12.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
An employee of the Gritti Palace helps a customer navigate a flooded entrance on November 12.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
A woman stands on a barrier during an exceptional "alta acqua" high tide on November 12.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
People traverse a footpath built over the flood waters.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
The entrance to St. Mark's Basilica is flooded on November 12.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
People walk through flood waters in St. Mark's Square on Tuesday.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
The high tide is seen near the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
Luca Bruno/AP
A person photographs a flooded St. Mark's Square on November 12.
“To say that we do nothing is a lie,” Ciambetti said. “We are a region that after the 2010 flood launched a plan to safeguard hydrogeological safety for a total cost of €2.6 billion, an exorbitant amount for regional finances.”
Earlier Ciambetti, who posted videos of the flooding at Ferro Fini Palace on his Facebook page, said in a statement to local paper Giornale di Vicenza:
“Never had such a situation occurred here (at the Council). The flood-proof bulkheads were not sufficient to contain the flood wave, nor was it possible to leave the building… It was preferred to guarantee safety and therefore to stay all inside the palace.”
The regional council meetings on Thursday and Friday were moved to Treviso because of the flooding, according to the council’s website.
On Tuesday, Venice’s mayor Luigi Brugnaro blamed climate change for the unusually high tides in Venice, and said the flooding was “a wound that will leave a permanent mark.”
