Reports say that the Tiber River has risen 16 meters (about 50 feet) already, and that the greatest volume of water from upstream is hitting the city right now, about midnight on the 12th of December.
Crowds gathered along the Lungotevere are peering over the embankments at the swiftly moving water. Some bridges are lined with flood watchers while others — like the ancient Ponte Cestio and and also ancient Ponte Fabricius have been closed to the public. There’s so many people out watching the water flow that you’d think there was a riverside soccer match going on.
The water, though higher than it’s been in decades, is not yet high enough to flow through the hole in the Ponte Sisto (sorry, Jill) as seen above.
Is this a record-setting level for the Tiber? It may be close. In the great flood of 1870–which occurred before the embankments were constructed–the Tiber rose 17 meters and water filled the city, even lapping at the bottom of the Spanish Steps.
