It's rained and the city is flooded: what the problem is and how the world solves it

Alice Smahina

The insidiousness of the heavenly office is boundless. Every year, tons of rainwater are poured onto the cities and villages of Ukraine (what a surprise!), turning them into a kind of Venice.

Outraged users of social media post hundreds of photos of flooded streets and yards, the authorities swear that the rain sewer was cleaned just last week, even where it never was, you see, there's an approved plan. And in general, do you like Venetian landscapes only when they're in Italy?

However, in real Venice, the situation isn't great too. Last year, the city experienced the worst flooding in 53 years. The reason wasn't only rising sea levels and subsidence, but also an extremely strong cyclone that hit the Italian coast of the Adriatic Sea. Violent gusts of wind and rain led to a record flood in November 2019.

Flooding in Venice / Photo Reuters