Venice to reopen all schools, tides remain high

The flood-hit historic city of Venice will reopen all schools that were earlier closed due to high water tides, the city's mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted Sunday.

He also said forms for citizens and businesses to claim damages would be available shortly.

Venice was hit by a tide at 150cm shortly after 1:00pm (1200 GMT) on Sunday, according to the city's tide forecasting and reporting center, which said tides could reach a maximum of 110 cm on Monday and Tuesday, and would remain high in the next few days.

"Venice and the Venetians in the darkest periods have done the best things and this time we will all stand together again," Brugnaro said in another tweet Sunday, posting a video clip featuring himself standing on the flooded streets.

"Let's start from Venice to study the effects of climate change around the world," he said.

In an earlier tweet, Brugnaro said the devastating floodwaters were "effects of climate change" and that "MOSE must be finished soon."

MOSE, or Experimental Electromechanical Module, was first drawn up in 1987 for flood protection and has been under construction since 2003, but has received critics over its possible ecological damage.

It was originally scheduled to be completed last year but faces delays, with a price tag estimated at around 7 billion euros (US$7.7 billion) once it is finished.