The Stream, September 18, 2024: Deadly Dam Break and Extensive Flooding in Central Europe Following Severe Storm

The Lumber River, its waters dark and tannic, flows along the northwest side of Fair Bluff. The river flooded Main Street, just a few blocks away, during hurricanes Matthew, in 2016, and Florence, in 2018. Photo © Brett Walton/Circle of Blue.

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN

Typhoon Bebinca, the strongest storm to hit Shanghai since 1949, made landfall this week, dropping torrential rains and spurring mass evacuations.
In North Carolina, a one-in-1,000 year deluge dropped nearly two feet of rain in less than a day on communities along the Atlantic coast.
The population of frankincense trees — overtapped to meet global demand and burdened by drought and water shortages — are on decline in Ethiopia.
A drinking water crisis is affecting Bhutan, the world’s only carbon-negative country, where the effects of climate change are wreaking havoc on streams and irrigation systems.

At least 17 people across Austria, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, and Poland have died as Storm Boris’s devastating flooding rolls through central Europe.

“What we are trying to do right now is save as many lives as possible.” — Mircea Fechet, environment minister of Romania.

Several months worth of rain fell on central Europe in just a few days as Storm Boris sparked torrential storms throughout the region. The storm was “spawned by a rare combination of meteorological factors,” the Washington Post reports. The confluence of a cold jet stream and warm air — this latter factor likely exacerbated by climate change — gave rise to high winds and heavy precipitation as moisture moved north and then west from the Mediterranean Sea.

For Austria, Romania, Czechia, and Poland this meant concentrated downpours and devastating flooding. Rivers have overtopped, homes have been destroyed, dams have been breached, and bridges have crumbled. Imagery from the New York Times and the Guardian show flooding eclipsing the roofs of buildings, and rescues performed as people wade through chest-high waters.

In Jesenik, Czechia, 18.2 inches of rain — a normal amount over six months — fell in just four days. More than 14 inches of rain fell on St. Polten, Austria, marking the town’s wettest month in 130 years, the Post reports. Up to 10 feet of snow fell in the Austrian alps.

As of writing, an estimated 17 people have died. Hundreds of millions of euros have already been made accessible by governments for relief and recovery efforts. Meanwhile, officials are preparing for further flooding — the Danube River, for example, which already peaked in Slovakia, is still rising downstream in Budapest, Hungary, by about one meter every 24 hours.

— Christian Thorsberg, Interim Stream Editor

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The Lead

The five main varieties of frankincense-producing trees that grow in Ethiopia are found in dry regions, where — as a result of war and prolonged drought — water scarcity is even worse today, the Guardian reports.

Western demand for the ancient resin, which in small bottles can sell for nearly $100, is pushing its harvest well beyond the limit of what’s healthy, for both trees and people. In an effort to make ends meet and participate in the $5.6 trillion international wellness economy, farmers in Ethiopia are overtapping frankincense trees, making them more susceptible to beetles and fungi. As a result, formerly forested lands are now dry, dwindling patches of vulnerable plants. The species is dying out quickly. A 2011 study predicted that the trees would go extinct by 2060. In 2019, a second study suggested the species would halve within 20 years.

In some areas where the resin is harvested, there is no running water or electricity. Pushed to the brink, farmers are contending with — and turning to — frankincense thievery: stealing the resource from others’ trees. Elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, this unsustainable economy is also growing. “In two areas of Somalia, for example, 225,000 people derive between 57 percent and 72 percent of their income from the frankincense trade,” according to the Guardian.

This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers

Years since a stronger storm has hit Shanghai, as Typhoon Bebinca made landfall on Monday morning, bringing 94 mile-per-hour winds and sheets of rain, Al Jazeera reports. The city’s 25 million residents were advised to stay home, and all travel — highways, train and bus lines, boat traffic — was restricted. CBS reports that 414,000 people had been evacuated prior to the storm’s arrival; some 10,000 trees have been uprooted and 132 acres of farmland were flooded. Near the mouth of the Yangtze River, another 9,000 people were evacuated under a red alert issued by the government.

Inches of rain that fell in southeastern North Carolina in just 12 hours on Monday, with nearly two feet of water accumulating in some areas by Tuesday morning, CBS reports. The rains, brought on by a “potential tropical cyclone” along the Atlantic coast, were a one in 1,000 year event, according to the National Weather Service. Near Wilmington, flooding washed out roads and homes.

On the Radar

In Bhutan, the world’s only carbon-negative country, the effects of climate change in a nation which contributes nothing to the global crisis are wreaking havoc on local water systems, DW reports. Alpine glaciers are melting and irregular monsoon rains are arriving powerfully and at erratic times, washing out crops and ruining farmland and irrigation systems. More than 60 percent of the population has no access to clean drinking water, according to the United Nations. With hundreds of people sharing limited spring-fed streams for drinking water and cleaning, the spread of disease is also a concern for local leaders.

More Water News

Juan Lopez: The Honduran environmental activist, who worked to defend rivers from mining and hydroelectric development, was murdered over the weekend, France24 reports.

Wine Woes: Heavy rains and cool weather have wine producers in France expecting a roughly 18 percent decrease in their output this year, compared to 2023, Reuters reports.

Christian Thorsberg

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.