Cell phones will now tell Italians when the tide is high in Venice. The city government just launched a free text message alert system for the floods which frequently put La Serenissima under several feet of water.
Intended to assist waterlogged locals, the only real requirement for signing up is an Italian cell phone. These timely texts could save a lot of headaches for anyone traveling to the city, especially in the fall flood season, normally a great time to visit Venice since it’s less plagued by tourists.
These acqua alta alerts let users know up to 36 hours before floods hit, keeps them posted from three to six hours before storms and lets them know when things are clearing up and water is ebbing back into canals.
Given that there are far more cell phone subscriptions than Italians, it is one of those services whose time has long come.
[...] First of all, congrats on your upcoming wedding! And as for visiting Italy in February, I was just there this past February for a couple of weeks and found it really wonderful. In Venice in particular it was extremely cold, though, so just be sure you’re bringing a warm coat – and probably an umbrella, too. During my recent trip to Venice in February, it didn’t rain all that much, but it was seriously foggy the whole time – so it wasn’t just cold, it was that kind of cuts-through-everything cold. My light windbreaker was definitely not enough to keep me warm! You’re right in that the crowds will be significantly less in February – that was one of the perks of my trip (in addition to the prices on stuff like hotels in Venice being lower, which always helps!). I didn’t notice any flooding whatsoever when I was there; the only time I’ve seen flooding in Venice was during a late September visit several years ago (though I’ve never visited in the real winter months). I did just read about a new service providing SMS flood alerts for Venice, though, so if you’re planning to pick up a pay-as-you-go Italian mobile phone you can sign up to get those! [...]
[...] This is especially a problem in Italy, where there are more cellphones than people and text messages are used for everything from food price checks to flood alerts. [...]