T.S. Eliot wrote that April is the cruelest month, but for Venice, November wins hands down.The city’s worst floods have taken place in November, as they did last month when high-water levels (74.4”) nearly broke the the acqua alte records set in 1966 (76.4”), wreaking an estimated $1.1 billion in damages and causing fatal injuries.

With roughly 80% of the city beneath water, the Ducal Palace and other landmarks looking as if they were afloat, and shopkeepers up to their knees in brackish overflow, the city was soon in a state of emergency. Melissa Conn, director of the Venice office of Save Venice, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the city’s artistic treasures formed after the ruinous 1966 floods, says that such historic spots as St. Mark's Basilica, the Ca’D’Oro museum and Santa Maria Assunta were among the many places suffering significant damage.