SEPTEMBER 2024

EUROPE

Weather warnings have been issued as strong winds and heavy rain approach the UK, days after some areas were hit by flooding.  The Met Office issued a yellow rain warning – meaning further heavy rain is likely to cause some travel delays and flooding – covering much of southern England and south Wales between 4pm on Sunday and 9am on Monday.  Between 20mm and 30mm of rain could fall within the warning area over nine to 12 hours on Sunday, and 50mm to 80mm in some localized places on higher ground, the Met Office said.  Becky Mitchell, a Met Office meteorologist, said it was “not a huge amount of rain” but because of the recent weather “river levels are quite high and grounds are quite saturated”, so more flooding could develop.

By the third night of rain, the situation in the command center had escalated from tense to critical. Mateusz Fryn, the deputy firefighter chief in St Pölten, Austria, told his colleagues to stop filling sandbags and pumping water out of basements. Instead, it was time to focus on saving lives.  “It was no longer about acting, it was about reacting,” said Fryn, standing in front of a map of the town and pointing to water-logged areas that had needed rescue operations.  Two dozen people were killed across eastern and central Europe when Storm Boris brought an almost unprecedented deluge to parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia last weekend. Up to five times the average monthly rainfall for September fell in just four days, leaving picturesque towns across the region inundated and residents picking up the pieces.

Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured in wildfires ravaging central and northern Portugal, authorities have said, after three firefighters died on Tuesday when their vehicle was trapped in flames.  Portugal’s civil protection service said 54 wildfires were burning nationwide, mainly in the north, with 5,300 firefighters mobilized. France, Greece, Italy and Spain sent eight water-bombing planes through the EU’s mutual assistance mechanism.  More than 1,000 firefighters battled through Monday night to control four separate blazes near the towns of Nelas and Aveiro, south of Porto, with TV footage showing residents frantically pouring buckets of water on rapidly advancing flames.  In Aveiro alone, the blazes have consumed more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and scrubland in the last two days, the agency said – roughly the same area that has been burnt by fires so far this year across the country.The national civil protection commander, Andre Fernandes, said the three firefighters – two women and a man – had been killed near Nelas. Four people, including a man retrieving tools from his shed, were reported dead on Monday.

ASIA

Heavy rain caused extensive flooding in central Japan over the weekend, with at least one person reported dead and several more unaccounted for.  Officials said “unprecedented” rainfall generated floods and landslides in Ishikawa prefecture, where a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day killed more than 200 people. The Japan meteorological agency issued its highest-level warning for Ishikawa, advising of a “life-threatening situation”.  Authorities ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate as more than a dozen rivers overflowed by late morning on Saturday, and a number of people were rescued from flood water in the cities of Wajima and Suzu. On Saturday morning 121mm (4.8in) of rain was recorded in one hour in Wajima, and 84.5mm in Suzu.

METERRAINNEAN

Two people are missing and about 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after devastating floods and landslides hit the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, prompting accusations that Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government lacks the will to confront the climate crisis.  The flooding was brought on by Storm Boris, which had earlier wreaked havoc in central and eastern Europe, killing at least 24 people. Several major cities in central Europe were bracing for swollen rivers to peak on Thursday but defenses generally appeared to be holding.  Visiting one such city, Wrocław in Poland, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced €10bn in cohesion funds for member states left with “heartbreaking” devastation from the flooding.  The torrential rain in Italy engulfed the same areas of Emilia-Romagna hit by flooding in May 2023 that killed 17 people and caused €8.5bn (£7.14bn) of damage.

As least 13 people have been injured in three major southern California wildfires that broke out this week during a scorching heatwave. Firefighters battling the blazes, already stretched to the limits by a challenging summer, were among the injured.

UNITED STATES

The Bridge fire in the Angeles national forest, located north of Glendora, exploded from about 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) on Tuesday to 34,000 acres that evening, according to the Los Angeles Times.  At least 33 homes and six cabins have been destroyed by the Bridge fire, authorities said, adding that the fire is currently threatening 2,500 buildings in an area strapped for personnel with so many fires raging at once.  “As a region, we’re currently at drawdown for fire personnel and resources,” said Anthony Marrone, the Los Angeles county fire chief, adding that authorities have requested assistance from northern California and nearby states.  In Orange county, firefighters did battle with a fast-spreading fire that ignited on Monday and has since sprawled to more than 19,000 acres. This blaze, called the Airport fire, was caused by a spark from heavy equipment that was used by public workers, according to officials.  The fire had spread into the mountainous region of adjacent Riverside county with no containment. Two firefighters endured heat-related injuries and a resident suffered from smoke inhalation.

Francine made landfall in south Louisiana on Wednesday as a category 2 hurricane as officials warned of life-threatening storm surge, flooding and 100mph winds.  There were evacuation orders in some parishes, as communities braced. The US National Weather Service warned of “damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge and torrential rain” in an area still recovering from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.  The storm was the latest of a recent spate that have increased suddenly in intensity, as experts warn that the climate crisis is creating more powerful storms.  In Morgan City, south-west of New Orleans, gas stations had put plywood on the windows and moved trash cans inside, with a few pumps still serving the trickle of cars passing through shortly after dawn. The city, home to around 11,500 people, sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River in south Louisiana and is surrounded by lakes and marsh.

Phoenix, Arizona, saw its 100th straight day of 100F (37.7C) heat this week. The hottest large city in the United States broke its previous record of 76 consecutive 100F days set in 1993. The relentless streak, which started on 27 May and hit its 100th day on Tuesday, is forecast to persist into next week. An excessive heat warning is in effect through Friday, with temperatures expected to reach 110F (43C) tomorrow.  This summer was the hottest one in Phoenix since 1896, when records first began. Latest county data shows that at least 177 people died from heat-related causes so far this year, with 436 under investigation. Last year, Maricopa county saw 645 confirmed heat-related fatalities, enduring 55 days in a row with above 110F temperatures.  “Summers in Phoenix are becoming increasingly hotter, with more intense and prolonged heat,” said Shel Winkley, a meteorologist at the non-profit Climate Central. “On average, Phoenix now experiences about 60 days [or] 65% of the summer with extreme heat.” In addition to Arizona, millions of Americans across Nevada and California are facing scorching heat, with the highest temperature expected to peak in the Death Valley national park at 120F (49C).  “Temperatures will be running up to 8 degrees above normal for early September,” the National Weather Service Las Vegas office warned in an advisory.  Homeless people, children, the elderly, pregnant people and those with chronic medical conditions are at higher risk for heat-related illness.  “Consecutive high heat days mean that people in Phoenix don’t get respite at night, especially those who don’t have or can’t afford to run an AC unit as well as those who work outdoors,” said Juan Declet-Barreto, senior social scientist for climate vulnerability at the Union of Concerned Scientists.  “I would like the public to understand that this heat is no longer a rare occurrence,” Declet-Barreto said. “It will continue to get worse year after year if we don’t make drastic emissions reductions. We need to decarbonize our energy, industrial, agricultural and transportation sectors. There’s no way around that if we want cities like Phoenix to be livable.”

TROPICAL

The head of the US disaster relief agency has called Hurricane Helene, which has killed nearly 100 people, a “true multi-state event” that caused “significant infrastructure  damage” and had been made worse because of global heating.  The storm killed at least 91 people, according to state and local officials in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Officials feared more bodies would be discovered.  “This is going to be a really complicated recovery in each of the five states” of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) administrator, Deanne Criswell.  She noted that a 15ft storm surge hit Florida’s Taylor county, where Helene came ashore as a category 4 hurricane late Thursday with winds of 140mph (225km/h), and pointed out that areas of western North Carolina, where search and rescue operations are continuing, recorded 29in (74cm) of rain when the storm stalled over the region.

At least 64 people have been confirmed dead and almost 3.5 million were without power on Saturday, after strong winds and torrential rain from Hurricane Helene wreaked unprecedented havoc across large swaths of the south-eastern United States. Historic flooding continued over parts of the southern Appalachians on Saturday, as first responders worked to reach stranded communities in trying conditions while local authorities began to assess the scale of the damage and displacement.  “It looks like a bomb went off,” said Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, after surveying the damage from the air on Saturday. “To say this caught us off-guard would be an understatement,” said Quentin Miller, sheriff of Buncombe county, North Carolina, where part of Asheville is underwater and multiple cell towers remain down, hampering rescue and recovery efforts. Emergency services have declined to confirm the number of fatalities in the county until communication outages can be restored and next of kin informed.  In a statement also on Saturday, Joe Biden said that the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), Deanna Criswell, was travelling throughout the south-east to assess the damage alongside other state and local officials.  “I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by Hurricane Helene across the south-east … My administration is in constant contact with state and local officials to ensure communities have the support and resources they need,” he said. “We’re not going to walk away. We’re not going to give up.”  Residents in south-western Mexico on Saturday evacuated from homes flooded by the remnants of Hurricane John that ravaged the Pacific coastline for a week, bringing deadly floods and landslides that left 22 people reported dead.  In Guerrero, the worst-hit state and one of Mexico’s poorest, 18 people were killed, according to local media, many due to mudslides that crushed houses. To the south, local media reported three deaths in Oaxaca, and a young boy died in a river to the north in Michoacán state.  John rapidly strengthened into a major hurricane on Monday before tearing into Guerrero. It dissipated, then reformed offshore and for the rest of the week skimmed the coastline north, bringing torrential rain and floods.  John began dissipating on Friday and is no longer considered an active storm.  Evelyn Salgado, the Guerrero state governor, shared images on X of emergency responders in the major resort city of Acapulco carrying out rescue operations by boat, jet ski and helicopter, and residents wading through roads flooded up to waist height.

Typhoon Bebinca struck the east coast of China this week, making landfall near Shanghai, a city of almost 30 million people, on Monday. Bebinca developed into a typhoon to the east of the southern Japan islands late last week, before traveling westwards through the East China Sea and making landfall in Shanghai at approximately 7.30am local time (00.30BST).  The Chinese media say it is the strongest typhoon to hit Shanghai in 75 years. Wind speeds were reported to have reached just over 150km/h (about 94mph), making it equivalent to a category 1 hurricane, albeit just shy of a category 2 in strength. Before Bebinca, Shanghai had been hit directly by only two typhoons, one in 1949 and another in 2022, as they usually track further south.  More than 400,000 people were evacuated as China issued a red typhoon warning, with more than a thousand flights cancelled and many roads shut due to flooding and strong winds. After leaving a path of destruction in Shanghai, Bebinca proceeded westwards across China and weakened, though still caused disruption by bringing heavy rain and flooding. After Super Typhoon Yagi affected parts of Vietnam and China last week, with the death toll now at about 200 people, another tropical cyclone developed in the Gulf of Mexico this week.  This developed into the category 2 Hurricane Francine, which is the fourth named hurricane and sixth named storm of the 2024 season. Francine made landfall in Louisiana on Thursday, with winds of 100mph causing damage to infrastructure. Francine will weaken as it pushes northwards across central eastern states of the US over the next few days, but there is the possibility for some tornadoes to form, and warnings have been issued for some states.  Meanwhile, another tropical storm is developing in the western Pacific Ocean, and has been given the name Bebinca by the autonomous region of Macau. Bebinca developed just off the coast of Guam on Tuesday, and is set to move north-west across the Philippine Sea and strengthen into a very strong typhoon. It will probably reach the east coast of China by Sunday, and is expected to make landfall near Shanghai.

Thousands of residents of Vietnam’s capital living close to the swollen Red River have been evacuated as its waters flooded streets days after Typhoon Yagi battered northern Vietnam, with the death toll rising to at least 143 people.  Yagi, the most powerful typhoon to hit Asia this year, made landfall on the northern coast of Vietnam on Saturday and moved westwards, hitting Hanoi with gales and heavy rain. The storm also hit other provinces up the Red River, the area’s largest, collapsing a bridge on Monday.  An entire village was swept away by a landslide caused by flash flooding in northern Vietnam, killing 16 people and leaving dozens missing, local media reported on Wednesday.  Vietnamese state broadcaster VTV said the torrent of water gushing down from a mountain in Lao Cai province on Tuesday buried the village of Lang Nu and 35 families in mud and debris.  Some schools in Hanoi have told students to stay home for the rest of the week due to flood concerns, while thousands of residents living in low-lying areas have been evacuated, according to sources, government and state media.