Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS AG has published a preliminary estimate of industry losses from floods in Central Europe and Italy between September 14 and 20, 2024, estimating a total of €1.886 billion. As a reminder, the low-pressure system Boris (also known as Anette) caused prolonged heavy rainfall over a very large area in Central Europe in mid-September, leading to flooding in the Danube, Elbe, Oder and Vistula river basins. According to PERILS, most of the losses occurred in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland, which accounted for about 95% of the industry's losses, followed by Italy and Slovakia.
More »People in the world's smallest countries, those that contribute the least to climate change, are the hardest hit, especially by flooding. And the situation is getting worse. These are the results of a study conducted by the University of Bristol and published Nov. 10 in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The research found that, on average, nearly one in five people among the inhabitants of small island developing states - about 8.5 million people in total - are currently affected by coastal and inland flooding. Three of these 57 countries, concentrated in the Pacific, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South China Sea, namely the Bahamas, Guyana and Tuvalu, tripled that percentage to more than 60 percent of the population, according to the findings.
More »This year Azerbaijan is hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-29). This is the largest international event in the country's history. About 80,000 foreign guests will arrive at COP29, which will be held from November 11 to 22 at the Baku Stadium, and more than 50 heads of state and government have confirmed their participation in this large-scale event. The main expectation from COP29 is to agree a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) for climate finance.
More »The Mediterranean Sea temperature record since the beginning of modern observations was set in 2023, with the average surface temperature increasing by more than 1 degree Celsius in 25 years, there has been a gradual increase in temperature since 2013 in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, spreading northwards, and warming of deeper layers, up to 800 meters. This is the conclusion reached by ENEA and INGV within the MACMAP project in collaboration with GNV, the ferry company of the MSC Group. This was reported on November 8 by the Italian publication AGI.
More »Intense rains hit Savona, the largest city in Liguria, a region in northern Italy, today. Waterlogging was recorded in Albenga, as well as in Tovo San Giacomo, Calice Ligure and Altara. Significant rainfall was recorded in the municipality of Quiliano: up to 56 mm of water fell in just one hour. West of Savona, up to 190 mm of rain fell overnight. In the neighborhood of Cerilese, severe flooding was reported along the Via Romana. “Due to the heavy rains, the river overflowed despite the system of bulkheads and protective barriers installed due to the yellow (not orange) warning,” said vice-mayor and councillor Luigi Giordano, who is monitoring the weather situation.
More »Severe winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Helen destroyed one-fifth of the cotton crop in Georgia, the second-largest cotton state in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's monthly crop production report (WASDE), Agriculture News reported Oct. 15. A preliminary damage report from the University of Georgia put cotton losses at $207-220 million. State officials said the storm's total damage to Georgia agriculture amounted to $6.46 billion ($625 billion). “Georgia and North Carolina accounted for the majority of the reduction,” the WASDE report said. The hurricane hit the states during harvest time. In addition, poultry farms closed during the rampage, which also took a significant economic toll.
More »In Turkey, a person was injured when lightning struck an airport. The portal HavaSosyalMedya writes about this. “Before the departure of the Rize-Artvin - Istanbul flight, lightning struck the airport when the plane door was about to close to allow the take-off process to begin. As a result of a lightning strike, the on-board operator of the aircraft lost consciousness and fell,” the report says. Due to ongoing lightning strikes, the airport has temporarily postponed aircraft takeoffs and landings and all operations on the runway. The injured man was hospitalized.
More »The bodies of two women have been found in the Taifa community of Taza province in Morocco. Eight other people were injured in the floods that occurred in the region, the regional office for health and social protection in Taza province told SNRTnews. The same source indicated that the injured have received medical treatment and are in a condition that does not cause concern. Thunderstorms that occurred in the region since Saturday evening, October 12, 2024, caused severe floods and heavy rains, causing the death of a large number of sheep and material damage, as well as damaging a number of roads.
More »At least 16 people have died from Hurricane Milton, which roared onshore on Florida's west coast as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing tornadoes, powerful winds and flooding rains. The monster storm forced millions to evacuate and left widespread destruction across Florida. More than 2 million customers remain without power in Florida on Friday afternoon. Over 3 million customers lost power at the height of the storm. Duke Energy said it plans to restore power by Sunday night in Brevard, Citrus, Hernando, Highlands, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties.
More »Swedish activist Greta Thunberg attended a rally in support of climate change and Palestinians in Milan on Friday. More than 1,000 people, many of them teenagers, joined a peaceful march in this northern Italian city organized by Fridays For Future, a climate change movement that Thunberg helped found. Wearing a kufiya - a traditional scarf symbolizing the Palestinian struggle against Israel - Thunberg walked at the front of the procession, while other protesters waved flags, held banners and danced to music.
More »Former Tropical Storm Kirk brought record rainfall to Paris this Wednesday, October 9. According to Météo-France, the Paris-Monsouri station recorded 70 mm of rain over the 24-hour period, making this October day the rainiest in more than a century in the nation's capital. The record October rainfall in Paris was observed on October 17, 1920, when 74 mm fell in a single day. Even the National Assembly was affected by the flooding as the Chaban-Delmas building in the Palais Bourbon was inundated with water, as revealed by Dordogne MP Sébastien Peytavi on the X network.
More »Storm Kirk has hit Spain. The remnants of the tropical storm had its biggest impact this Wednesday across the country, except for the Canary Islands, bringing heavy rain, storms and hurricane-force wind gusts of more than 200 km/h, causing incidents in several locations. After Kirk passes through the peninsula, the new Atlantic cyclone will again bring rain to most of the country starting Friday, according to Ruben del Campo, spokesman for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
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