General

The extreme climate anomalies around the world are becoming more and more intense.

The extreme high temperature in June in North America set multiple records; and earlier this January, North America was still hit by a deadly cold wave from Denver to Chicago to Texas, and the temperature in some areas dropped to close to -30°C. .

Now following North America, the "surreal" weather crisis is unfolding in Europe. Among them, there have been unprecedented disasters of mountain torrents and mudslides in western Germany. For this reason, the German Meteorological Department has called the flood disaster "once in a thousand years". Currently, the German Ministry of Defense has announced the activation of a military disaster alert.

The devastating flood swept through Western Europe

Affected by the low pressure, the western part of Europe has been raining torrentially since the 14th of this month, and even the rainfall in a day has exceeded one month. The continuous torrential rain caused flash floods and destroyed some villages. Almost 200 people have been killed and thousands of people are missing.

At present, the worst hit is Germany. From the air, some villages seem to have completely disappeared. Only the top of the house is exposed from the flood. Helicopters hovering on the roof to rescue the trapped people, and divers are sent to the flooded houses to salvage. Dead body.

A large number of houses in the severely affected areas were destroyed, communication towers collapsed, power and communication networks were cut off, and local governments still had difficulty in contacting unaccounted persons.

Germany is experiencing one of the worst meteorological disasters since World War II.

According to a report by Chinanews.com on July 20, at least 165 people have been confirmed dead in Germany, and the emergency services are still searching for victims. Approximately 1,300 Germans are missing (or the telecommunications signal was interrupted due to the flood).

It is not just Germany that is affected. Many Western European countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, were also affected by heavy rainfall, causing floods. A total of 117 people were confirmed dead in Rhineland-Palatinate, 47 people in neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia, and one in Bavaria. At least 31 people died in Belgium.

Affected by floods, thousands of people in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland needed to be evacuated urgently. In eastern Belgium, many trains and roads were blocked due to flooding, and some residents stayed awake to drain the water in their homes. On the 14th, Belgium submitted a request for assistance to the EU, and on the 15th, the EU launched a civil defense mechanism to deal with floods.

According to many residents in the disaster area, the usual calm river suddenly turned into a huge wave, wherever it went, all things such as cars, houses, and bridges were swept away in an instant.

"Everything is too fast. When you react and prepare to do something, it is too late." A villager from Schulder village in western Germany was still in shock during an interview.

According to the village name, the bank of the Acher River has destroyed most of the local houses, and "vehicles are like bath toys floating in a bathtub."

Some people say that Germany's flood warning system may not send a signal in time. However, in the face of doubts that "this disaster should not have caused so many deaths," the German Meteorological Agency said, "No one can prepare because no one expected such a thing to happen."

German climatologists described the flood as a rare and serious disaster that "never occurred in 500 or even 1,000 years".

Impact on the economy

Although the impact of the floods in Western Europe will not be as ridiculous as the 100-fold increase in electricity prices caused by the cold wave in the United States at the beginning of the year, the sudden disaster still caused huge losses to people’s property and economic activities.

There are at least the following three paths for the impact of floods:

1. Destroy houses, roads, bridges, power and water conservancy equipment and other fixed assets, causing economic losses;

2. Forcing some factories and projects to stop or postpone, and cause transportation and communication interruptions, thereby affecting the production progress of some industries;

3. Destroy crops, poultry and livestock, and at the same time may reduce food supply due to reduced production of fruits, vegetables, meat and other foods, thereby pushing up inflation.

German President Steinmeier described the floods as a huge tragedy, and he estimated that the reconstruction funds would reach billions of euros.

The severe losses caused by the floods also meant huge insurance payments. The German insurance industry may face the highest natural disaster compensation since 2013.

In recent months, Germany has experienced frequent natural disasters. According to preliminary estimates by the German Insurance Association, heavy rain and hail caused by a series of thunderstorms in late June have caused insured losses of 1.7 billion euros.

Taking into account the current flood disasters, this year the German insurance industry may face the highest claims for storms, floods, rainstorms and hail since 2013.