It has rained every day as much as a month’s worth of rain.
Yrjö Kokkonen,
Elsa Osipova
The southern part of Germany, especially Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, have been hit by severe floods in recent days.
One firefighter has died in rescue operations. In addition, at least one person is missing.
Around 3,000 people have had to be evacuated due to the floods.
It has rained every day as much as a month’s worth of rain.
According to the German Meteorological Institute, at least 120 millimeters of rain fell in the Swabian, Upper Bavaria and Upper Allgäu regions over the weekend.
A state of emergency was declared in at least ten regions over the weekend. The area around Augsburg was hit particularly hard by floods over the weekend. Train service between Stuttgart and Augsburg was interrupted at the weekend after a landslide derailed two carriages of the train. No one was injured in the late Saturday crash.
Heavy rain is expected to continue on Monday
Meteorologist at the German Meteorological Institute Helge Tuschy tells For the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaperthat the background of the flood is related to the breakup of the polar vortex that happened in March.
The polar vortex is a jet stream high in the stratosphere circling the North Pole that affects the weather. The vortex usually dissipates naturally in April when temperatures rise. This year, the vortex broke up already in March.
The atmosphere is a complex entity that, according to Tuschy, as a result of decomposition, moist air rising from the Mediterranean causes exceptional rains in southern Germany. According to Tuschy, researchers must find out how much of the phenomenon is the result of climate change.
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz will travel to the flood zone on Monday, the government spokesperson said.
According to the weather forecast, the rains will start to stop tomorrow, Tuesday.
In 2021, a total of almost 200 people died in floods caused by heavy rains in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria. More than 160 people died in Germany.
Source: Reuters
3.6. at 9:27 AM Fixed. Earlier in the article it was erroneously stated that up to 120 milliliters per square meter rained in the area of Swabia, Upper Bavaria and Upper Allgäu over the weekend.