This article was written by Eric Reguly and was published in the Globe & Mail on September 24, 2024.
No deaths reported in Hungarian storms, but at least 24 people died in other parts of Europe
The Hungarian government has declared the worst of the flooding triggered by last week’s Storm Boris, which produced record rainfall and killed more than two dozen people in Central and Eastern Europe, to be over. In Budapest, the Danube River flood waters were receding Monday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the flood waters along the Danube, the second longest river in Europe, extending from Germany to the Black Sea, were still expected to peak Monday in the small city of Baja, about 200 kilometres south of Budapest. “There are things we’re glad to see come to an end, and flooding is one of them,” he said.
In Budapest, the water levels had dropped more than 70 centimetres by Monday but were still high. On the Pest side of the city, which lies on the eastern bank of the river, the riverside roadway and tram line remained well submerged.
Rouf Farrhat, who operates a ticket kiosk next to the 19th-century Chain Bridge, said he was relieved the water was receding. “Four days ago, the water was very high and had reached just under the bridge and covered the stairs down to the water,” he said. “All the restaurants by the river closed, and the boat traffic had to stop.”
Mr. Orban said the “third-degree alert” areas – those under the highest-level flood warning – had been reduced to 223 square kilometres by Monday. Over the weekend, flood-defence operations had covered about 700 square kilometres, down from a peak of more 750.
There were no reported deaths in the Hungarian floods, which were the worst since 2013. The damage was extensive in other parts of Europe, with at least 24 reported deaths and several people missing. Entire villages were swamped and abandoned, and hundreds of thousands of residents were left without electricity.
The devastation started after Storm Boris hit on Sept. 11. The storm was caused by a low-pressure system driven by cold Arctic air that mixed with warm air from Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, where sea-level temperatures had reached a record after an exceedingly hot summer. The average European land temperature in June, July and August was 1.54 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, exceeding the previous record from 2022.
Many climate scientists have said that extreme precipitation events are likely caused by greater evaporation rates brought on by human-induced global warming.
The flooding first hit Austria and Czechia, then spread to Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary and Northern Italy. In some Alpine areas the rain turned to snowfall. On the Austria-Germany border, an avalanche buried one person, who remains missing. In Czechia, some 200 rivers burst their banks. Several people drowned in flooded apartments. In Prague, water entered the metro system and forced it to close.
Southwestern Poland received half a year of rainfall in three days. Ten people were reported dead in the flooding. On Sept. 15, Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared a state of natural disaster. In Romania, seven people were reported killed in villages overwhelmed by flooding.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen late last week announced €10-billion in funds for EU countries that suffered extensive damage.
On Monday, Amazon said it has “mobilized our logistics infrastructure, inventory, teams and technology to provide rapid assistance in crisis areas” hit by the floods. The shipments, some done with the local Red Cross, included hot meals, blankets, clothing, cots, hygiene kits and flashlights. Drones were also deployed to map out areas still inundated by flood waters.
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