Geotimes
Web Extra
Friday, August 15
Floods wreak havoc in Europe
Rain-drenched and flood-soaked, Russia and central European countries are reeling
under the impact of freak storm weather that has hit them this past week. On Wednesday,
even as southeastern Russia attempted to recover from flash floods that killed
58 people in resorts along the Black Sea, people in the Czech Republic held their
breath as the Vlatva River threatened to flood the center of their historic capital,
Prague. Now, the worst weather seems be over in the Czech Republic, but further
downstream the German city of Dresden is fighting the onslaught of the waves.
With the Danube, Elbe and other rivers in the area bursting their banks, local
authorities in the region fear the worst floods in a hundred years. The Vltava
river, a tributary of the Elbe, recorded a flow rate of 4,500 cubic meters per
second according to Vaclav Basa, a Czech hydrologist, as reported in The Prague
Post. This flow rate is almost a hundred times the normal summer average. As the
waters continue to rise, tens of thousands of people are being evacuated from
their homes. In Prague's downtown alone, efforts to evacuate 50,000 people are
underway.
A low-pressure system coupled with high temperatures is to blame for the excessive
rains. As reported by the United Kingdom's Meteorologic Office on Aug. 13, normal
summer conditions over central and southern Europe are characterized by high pressure
systems, while areas of low pressure form further north. The temperatures these
low pressure systems normally encounter are cool, and they do not pick up much
water. However, with the high pressure systems weakened this summer, the low pressure
systems crossed into Europe at lower and warmer latitudes, setting the stage for
severe storm weather.
This year severe flooding has also affected parts of southern China, India, Korea
and the Philippines while other regions of the world such as Southern Africa,
the United States and Australia are experiencing droughts. The El Niño-Southern
Oscillation (ENSO) system, disrupting normal east-to-west Pacific atmospheric
circulation and ocean conditions has been recognized in the past as affecting
weather conditions worldwide. The Met Office reports that it is hard to know if
ENSO has played a part in Europe's present flood disaster as links between Europe's
weather and El Niño are poorly understood.
Even as meteorologists and climatologists attempt to decipher the causes for the
heavy rains, hydrologists, urban planners and ordinary citizens are trying to
understand the mechanics of severe flooding. Along with natural factors, such
as continuous and heavy rain, land use policies are believed to have exacerbated
the situation. The New York Times, Aug. 13, reports that Czech Prime Minister
Vladimir Spidla blames industrial farming and forestry practices of the erstwhile
Communist regime as contributing to the disaster. Dense urban centers with fewer
trees and more asphalt, thus less runoff area, are also blamed.
Assessing flood causes will take time. For now, countries are focused on the immediate
concerns of coping with the emergency of rising waters and dealing with the aftermath
of devastation and basic recovery.
Salma Monani
Links:
For ongoing coverage of the crisis including photo galleries, visit: The
Prague Post, BBC
world news, The
New York Times
United
Kingdom Met Office
World Meteorological Organization
has links to the meteorological agencies of affected countries.
View atellite images of the floods at Dartmouth
Flood Observatory.
