威尼斯遭暴雨變真正"水城" 遊客有人歡喜有人愁

The Floating City has been living up to its nickname after high tides and heavy rain flooded the streets of Venice.

在經歷了漲潮高峯和暴雨侵襲後，意大利著名旅遊城市威尼斯不負“水中之城”的別名。

Seventy per cent of central Venice was under water yesterday after rainfall and seas whipped up by strong winds brought the Italian city's high tide mark to its sixth-highest level since records began in 1872.

經過昨天的降雨和被狂風掀起的海水漲潮後，威尼斯市中心七成地方都浸沒在水下。這是意大利自1872以來第六高的漲潮記錄。

But tourists refused to let the weather dampen their spirits and many donned wellington boots and swimming costumes to make the most of the city's historic waterlogged squares.

但旅遊者拒絕讓天氣影響他們的興致，許多人穿上惠靈頓長筒橡膠靴和泳衣，充分利用城中具有歷史意義的聖馬可廣場。暴雨後廣場積水嚴重。

One group soaked up their surroundings as they sat submerged up to their waists at a café in St Mark’s Square while another daring couple decided to go for a quick swim.

一羣人坐在聖馬克廣場的一家咖啡館裏，他們完全是泡在水裏，水漫到腰部；而另一對大膽的夫婦決定快快遊個泳。

But the flooding caused misery for other visitors to the city who had to wade through the water with plastic bags on their legs, carrying their suitcases on their shoulders.

但洪水也對城市裏的其他遊客造成了痛苦，他們把塑料袋綁在腿上，行李扛在肩上，趟水而過。

Makeshift wooden walkways were erected in St Mark's square and alongside the famous Rialto bridge to help people navigate their way around the city.

人們在聖馬克廣場以及沿着著名的里亞爾託橋建造了臨時的木製走道，幫助人們在城市裏穿行。

Italian news reports said the same weather system causing chaos in Venice was wreaking havoc elsewhere in north and central Italy, with some 200 people evacuated from their homes in hard-hit Tuscany.

意大利新聞報道說，讓威尼斯城一團混亂的氣象系統同樣在意大利北部和中部肆虐，在受災嚴重的托斯卡納區，已有大約200人撤離家園。

Flooding is common in Venice at this time of year. Moveable barriers that would protect Venice from high tides have been in the works for years but will not be operational before 2014.

每年的這個時候，威尼斯人對洪水的如期而至已經不覺得稀奇。可以保護威尼斯免受上漲潮水侵襲的可移動屏障已施工多年，但是要等到2014年才能運行。

Research carried out by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego earlier this year revealed that the city is sinking at a rate of 2mm a year.

加州大學聖地亞哥分校的斯克裏普斯海洋研究院今年早些時候做的一項調查透露，威尼斯這座城市正在以每年2毫米的速度下沉。

Scientists said the city was tilting to the east and heading out to the Adriatic Sea, as it was hit by more floods than ever before.

科學家說，由於城市遭受了更多的洪水侵襲，這座城市正朝着亞得里亞海的方向向東傾斜。

Earlier studies suggest it was submerging at just 0.04mm per year. The patches of land in Venice's 117 island lagoon are also sinking.

早期的研究表明它每年下沉0.04毫米。威尼斯的117個島中湖土地也在下沉。

Northern sections are dropping between 2 to 3mm per year, while the southern lagoon is subsiding by 3 to 4mm over the same period.

北部地區每年下降2至3毫米，而南部湖區在同一時期下沉3至4毫米。