At Least 19 Dead as Storm Boris Impacts Central Europe
At least 19 people have reportedly died till now in flooding caused by Storm Boris in central and eastern Europe, particularly Romania, Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic....
Facts
- At least 19 people have reportedly died till now in flooding caused by Storm Boris in central and eastern Europe, particularly Romania, Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic.[1]
- Among the dead are a firefighter in Austria's state of Lower Austria. Over 25K emergency personnel are deployed in that region.[2]
- Storm Boris has reportedly caused over three months' rainfall in only three days in some countries, leaving several missing in the resultant catastrophic floods.[3]
- Towns like Poland's Klodzko and Litovlje in the Czech Republic remained submerged on Monday while cities like Bratislava expected water levels to rise further.[4]
- With several roads submerged and bridges destroyed, the police, military, and fire services in some places were dependent on helicopters to reach those stranded.[5]
- The inclement weather — torrential rain and flooding, unusual snowfall, and strong winds — is expected to last till Tuesday. The floodwaters may take days to subside.[6]
Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]XINHUA, [3]BBC News, [4]CNN, [5]Inews.Co.Uk and [6]Guardian.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Washington Post. A rare coming together of extreme weather systems — Arctic air colliding with warm, moist air from the east — catalyzed deadly Storm Boris. This was intensified by record humidity and a historically warm Mediterranean Sea. The deluge has caused tragic losses and is a stark reminder of the intensifying effects of climate change.
- Narrative B, as provided by FT. It's easy to dismiss any extreme weather event as a consequence of climate change, but in reality, they're usually influenced by a myriad of factors that have nothing to do with it. More research is needed before we can establish any direct causal link between the two.
