Friday, December 12, 2008

Global warming, anyone?


Heavy rains pound Italy, Rome declares emergency.

Photo: Protezione Civile, Roma, via Reuters.

Brother of Acts of Hope, who lives in Rome (when he is not living in Istanbul or traveling to Perugia or Milan for work or on a gig in some other European country), has left New York City, where he and Brother's Dearly Beloved spent most of this week, for Rome. What will await the two of them when they land, I do not know. They live on one of Rome's famous seven hills, so there will not be flooding at the apartment, but who knows what the airport will be like. Stay tuned, and pray for the Gypsies (see the article via the link above) whom the city administration evacuated from the banks of the river Tiber today.

Floods do happen outside of periods of global warming. Below is (according to Reuters) a plaque on a wall in the Jewish ghetto in Rome, reading in archaic Italian "In 1598 the Tiber (river) reached this point." During the great flood of 1598, waters of the Tiber rose 19.56 meters (63.97 feet) above sea level.



Photos: Chris Helgren, Reuters

Meanwhile, it's still soggy in Venice:

Photo: Manuel Silvestri, Reuters.

2 comments:

Jane R said...

Brother and Beloved back in Rome safely, weather cold, apartment not affected by floods. Onward.

pj said...

I'm glad to hear that Bro and Beloved are safe.

Also, dig them Venitians! They're all, "ho-hum. I could go for some mussels marinara right about now."