VENICE, Italy — The historic city of Venice, Italy continues to experience devastating flooding.
Astronomical high tides submerged the city's landmarks under at least six feet of water again Friday--closing Saint Mark's Square.
It is the worst flooding the city has seen in decades.
Tiffany Monroe and her girlfriends just returned home to Maine from a trip to Venice, where they witnessed the impact the floodwaters are having on area homes, businesses and landmarks for themselves.
"It was disturbing to see that first hand. Everybody has heard of Venice sinking, but to actually see that it is getting worse, It's really sad," Monroe said.
Monroe and her friends had to cut their stay in Venice one night short because their hotel lobby was underwater.
Many historical sites were attempting to put raised boardwalks in place for tourists to walk on, but even those were not suitable in such deep water.
Monroe's friend, Cassidy Keene, explained how they even had to wade through water to get to restaurants and shops.
Cell phone video showed the women walking knee-deep at night.
"I wore my L.L. Bean boots all over some of the fashion capitals of the world," Keene joked. "My feet stayed dry for the longest until the water was over my knees and all bets were off. I held out the longest and I was proud of Maine."
The group said many of the locals are fearful tourists like them will avoid the city and hurt business.
They all agreed that while the extent of the flooding was worse than they anticipated, it did not ruin the experience.
"It was like seeing history," Keene said.
Many blame the extreme floodwaters on climate change. Local officials are blaming federal government for failing to complete construction on a protective sea barrier that was first proposed nearly 50 years ago.