måndag 4 november 2024

The climate threat The floods in Spain

Analysis: "Europe has not understood the seriousness"

The scientists agree that the temperature increases have contributed to intensifying extreme weather events like the catastrophic floods in Spain.

- We will see more of these floods in the future. They carry the fingerprints of climate change on them, Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, told Reuters.

But how could the large amounts of rain result in so many deaths? asks climatologist Friederike Otto in The Guardian.

According to Otto's own analysis, it is because Europe has not realized the seriousness of the intensified extreme weather. Although the weather institutes do their job in predicting torrential downpours, the necessary communication to the residents of affected areas often fails. In addition, urban planning must be adapted so that the water - when it falls in large quantities - has somewhere to go, says Otto.

“Severe flooding is unfortunately inevitable. What is not inevitable is how prepared we are," she writes.


Fewer cars than feared in water-filled parking garage

The rescue workers have inspected 50 vehicles in the flooded parking garage in Aldaia where it was feared that there may be many dead. So far, however, no bodies have been found, police say according to El Mundo.

The parking garage has a capacity for 2⁠ 500 vehicles but was not full when the downpour moved in. There were earlier fears that there were hundreds of cars parked, but it now seems to be significantly fewer, writes El País, which has spoken to a firefighter.

- There was talk of 600 dead here. You can imagine the anxiety we felt when we got here [...] but so far we haven't found anything.

It has been difficult for the rescue effort to reach the parking garage because the water is full of rubbish, oil and diesel, but yesterday they managed to get in with the help of drones and small boats.
 
A new warning is issued – this time for Catalonia

Spanish authorities have issued a new red weather warning – this time for part of Catalonia. This is reported by TT.

Among other things, warnings of "extreme and persistent rainfall" have been sent to mobile phones in the southern parts of Barcelona.

Trains in Catalonia are suspended indefinitely and air traffic is affected, writes El País.

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