大象传媒

Venetians are assessing the damage and drying out their homes and shops today after the city was flooded earlier this week when a storm came in from the Adriatic.

The flood barrier system at the entrance to Venice Lagoon, called Mose - designed and installed at great cost and time to keep destructive tides at bay - had not been activated because officials had not been warned of the danger.

One person clearing up is Franceso da Mosto, an architect, historian and author who has lived in Venice, in the same house, first bought by his grandfather, for his entire life. He says one of his vivid memories from childhood is of flooding.

"With the eyes of a child I was thinking, "Wow, we have a swimming pool in the house... From the point of view of a child, it was like a fairytale".

(Photo: Francesco in Venice. Credit: Francesco Da Mosto)