Storm “Daniel” hit central Greece from Thessaly since Monday and lasted until Thursday. This has resulted in extreme rainfall in recent days: locally, more than 750 liters of water per square meter fell in less than 24 hours. The rains followed devastating forest fires in Greece.
In the Greek disaster area, rescuers managed to bring hundreds of people from flooded villages to safety on Friday. According to a report by ERTnews, the number of deaths was ten at the end of the afternoon, and two Austrians are missing. The situation remains uncontrollable: rescue teams have not yet been able to reach all flooded areas. The damage also only slowly becomes visible.
Portal/Giorgos Moutafis In Palamas, Greece, countless people are taken to safety in rubber boats
Huge damage and mountains of mud
The situation was particularly dramatic on Friday in the cities of Larisa and Volos, as well as in the municipality of Karditsa, which resembles a large lake. A total of about 72,000 hectares were flooded, meteorologists said. The alarm was triggered by the amount of rain in the city of Larisa – the Pinios river there temporarily reached a water level of 9.5 meters, when normally it is around four meters, as the “Kathimerini” newspaper wrote.
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The port city of Volos is suffering massive infrastructure damage and struggling with mountains of mud that the water has washed into the streets. The entire region of Thessaly is considered the “breadbasket” of Greece; most of the fields here were underwater, some of which were meters high.
Damage and deaths in Bulgaria and Türkiye
Heavy rains have also occurred in the neighboring countries of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in recent days. Following heavy rain, flooding occurred in the western Turkish province of Kirklareli and the metropolis of Istanbul. A total of six people died in Kirklareli province and two in Istanbul. Several deaths and damage worth several million euros were also reported on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. So far, flooding has been rare on the Black Sea coast.
Portal/Stoyan Nenov Cars, caravans and even bungalows washed overboard off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast
Record rain paralyzes Hong Kong
Huge amounts of rain were also recorded in other regions of the world – including South America and Asia: the Asian financial metropolis of Hong Kong was brought to a standstill on Friday by the heaviest rains in 140 years. More than 100 people have been injured so far. In addition, at least two people died in the severe storms, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported on Friday, citing police.
The government of the Chinese Special Administrative Region spoke of “extreme conditions”. Schools remained closed and companies were asked to give their employees time off. The rains started on Thursday night. On Friday night, the Hong Kong weather station recorded a new rainfall record. At the observatory headquarters, 158.1 millimeters of rain per square meter were measured in one hour. This is the highest figure since records began in 1884. A “black alert” has been issued for further heavy rain.
APA/AFP/Bertha Wang Record rainfall in Hong Kong: streets, underground parking lots and subway stations were flooded in the Asian metropolis
The Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen was also affected.
Images of flooded underground parking lots and subway stations were shared on social media. Numerous roads turned into raging rivers. There were also landslides. Prime Minister John Lee spoke on Facebook about a “rain of the century” and appealed to people not to leave their homes if possible.
Extreme rainfall and flooding also occurred in the neighboring Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen. Also over the weekend, Typhoon “Saola” hit the region with heavy rain and gusts. Unlike today’s storm, authorities warned about “Saola” well in advance.
Floods in Southern Brazil
The death toll rose to at least 38 in the Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. A hurricane dropped heavy rains in both states earlier in the week, which caused flooding and mudslides. There is great destruction in the affected region, entire communities are submerged, said the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, according to the statement.
The rivers overflowed, entire regions were flooded. Thousands of people had to leave their homes and seek safety, media reported. It was the “worst climate disaster in the state”, Leite told the BBC.
Portal/Diego Vara A hurricane brought heavy rain to southern Brazil, causing flooding and landslides
August: Unusual amounts of rain in parts of Austria
Large amounts of rain have also been recorded in this country in recent weeks: According to a GeoSphere Austria analysis across Austria (as of August 31), the amount of summer precipitation was six percent above the long-term average. . According to a statement, this consists of a dry June (minus 35 percent), an average July (minus two percent) and a wet August (plus 56 percent).
For example, in August, in parts of western and southern Austria, it rained both in a few days and on average for the entire month of August: In some regions, summer even brought new rainfall records, especially in Carinthia: In Bad Eisenkappel has had 790 millimeters of rain this summer. The previous record here was 618 millimeters in the summer of 2014 (measurements since 1974), in Loibl it rained 1,092 millimeters. The previous record was 820 millimeters in the summer of 2020 (measurements since 1959).
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Copernicus: Summer 2023 hotter than ever
UN chief with a clear appeal
According to the EU’s climate change service, Copernicus, the month of August was drier or wetter than usual in many regions of the world. In addition, the world’s oceans have been unusually warm for nearly six months, increasing the risk of extreme weather events such as heat waves and heavy rainfall. “Our climate is imploding faster than we can handle the extreme weather events that hit every corner of the planet,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
He appealed to heads of state and government to act just before the G-20 summit in India. “We can still avoid the worst of climate chaos – and we don’t have a moment to waste.” Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said: “We will continue to see more intense and frequent climate records and extreme weather events that impact society and ecosystems. until we stop emitting greenhouse gases.”