South-Eastern Europe Confront Heightened Flood Danger Because of Wet Conditions
Although storms and tropical storms have swirled in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, the continent has encountered intense weather of its own. A weather disturbance that emerged over the Mediterranean in the middle of the week moved northeast into south-eastern European countries on Thursday, bringing widespread showers, electrical storms and extended rainfall.
Persistent Precipitation and Serious Warnings
This weather pattern is forecast to continue into Friday, with forecasting tools indicating 48-hour period totals of 80 to 130 millimeters of rain across much of the Balkans. Highest-level advisories were declared for Serbia, Romania's southwest, north-east Greece, and the Aegean island groups, underscoring the danger of flooding and risk to human safety. Strong winds also closed classes on Zakynthos in the Ionian Islands.
Chilly Air Contributes Severe Conditions
Cold air brought in from eastern Europe worsened the intensity, producing deep snow across the Alpine region, with certain forecasts estimating snow levels of up to 80cm by the coming weekend.
Earlier Inundation in Spain
Earlier in the week, eastern Spain and the Balearics endured devastating flooding as the remains of the former hurricane crossed the Iberian peninsula before coming to a halt over the Balearic Sea. Valencia and the island of Ibiza were most impacted; The town of Gandia measured over 350 millimeters in a 12-hour period – more than 10 times its September average, while Ibiza had 254 millimeters in one day, its rainiest day since at least 1952.
Streets, transit hubs, public parks, and schools were obliged to cease operations, while one gauge near Aldaia recorded 57 millimeters in just 35 minutes, resulting in the La Saleta waterway to flood. The flooding come almost a year after destructive flooding in the region in the previous year that killed over 230 individuals.
Tropical Cyclone Bualoi Hits Vietnamese Regions
The powerful typhoon struck the coast across central Vietnam this recent days, bringing torrential rain, strong winds, and huge sea swells. Over 300 millimeters of rainfall was observed within a 24-hour span on Monday morning, triggering sudden floods and mudslides that obstructed thousands of routes and cut off local populations across provinces in the north. Dozens of flights were disrupted or postponed, and train operations between Hanoi and the southern metropolis were suspended.
Authorities reported 36 lives lost and 147 people injured, with 21 people still unaccounted for. Hundreds of thousands of residences were harmed or submerged, with in excess of 126,000 acres of agricultural produce wiped out. The Vietnamese authorities has estimated that Bualoi has resulted in over $350 million in damage to property this recent period.
