Comments on: Floods wreak havoc in western Europe; botched warnings

By: Doug+Purdie

Doug+Purdie — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 16:25:14 +0000

Of course AGW caused the flooding. Floods, hurricanes and tornados never ever happened before humans started pumping hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 06:29:10 +0000

China floods, updated:
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/dam-near-chinas-flooded-zhenghou-city-collapses-third-last-48-hours
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/watch-chinese-subway-passengers-trapped-chest-high-floodwaters-heavy-rain-pounds-henan

By: Mike Weatherford

Mike Weatherford — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 17:37:45 +0000

I lived in Germany for a total of 10 years between 1971 and 1990, all in the Wiesbaden area. The Rhine flooded about every other year, as did the Main and the Mosel. I worked in imagery intelligence, and saw the result of flooding all throughout the main European flood zones. When you build for “most likely” and Nature doesn’t cooperate, you have disasters.

By: Indigo+Red

Indigo+Red — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 16:48:28 +0000

The causes of the European flood event are pretty much the same as flood events in the US. The natural flow patterns have been interrupted. River courses have been engineered and constrained by walls, dikes, and levies. People have built into the former flood plains rather than on the high ground where towns were previously built for protection from invaders. Heavy rain events result in water concentrations greater than what engineers predicted, rivers and streams overflow the artificial constraints and flood the towns. A few decades ago, the Mississippi River again flooded, homes were recently rebuilt after many previous flooding, were destroyed. The owners set about getting federally guaranteed loans to rebuild in the same locations. The loans were denied unless the location was changed to much higher ground. In the time since then, the Big Muddy has flooded several more times but without the vast destruction. The solution was simple and effective – get people and property out of nature’s way.

By: SteveS

SteveS — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 16:04:49 +0000

Netherlands might have received less rain, but the Rhein empties into it while carrying all that German rainfall.

By: Simon jester jr

Simon jester jr — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 14:14:11 +0000

It should be a wake up call. Countries that have globalist politicians who are pro open border, vocally anti climate change etc are taking their eye of the more mundane tasks such a management and governance.

By: Yawrate

Yawrate — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 14:06:28 +0000

Looking at the photos and videos I was struck by the fact that many of damaged buildings are sited on the flood plains of the rivers.

Never, ever, build on a flood plain.

By: Clean Willie

Clean Willie — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 13:38:07 +0000

Re: Tommy Jay
You think Brits should show more loyalty to a 30 year-old Frankenstein political entity that is an anti-democratic administrative nightmare over their own country that has existed for over a millenium? The Brits were just the first to recognize and act on the fact that the EU is an unworkable mess that serves the interests of the Germans and the French primarily at the expense of its other members. I predict more defections in coming years.

By: Zaphod

Zaphod — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 12:48:48 +0000

@Arty:

And woe betide it if it doesn’t fall in cubical droplets.

They won’t let an opportunity go to waste. There’s going to be a growth industry in flood-abatement boondoggles for a few years now.

This has happened in HK. Everything which can be concreted has been concreted. There’s probably a culvert for every man, woman and child.

By: JTW

JTW — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 12:07:53 +0000

“till, is it possible that those quaint old German towns have never experienced 4-8 inches before?”

Typical bollocks to create drama and panic.
Of course it’s rained this much before in a day, and more. In fact it happens several times a year.

What’s different this time is that it happened after the upstreams regions and the local soil had already been filled to capacity by the rain of the previous months.
The Netherlands and surrounding areas of Belgium and Germany have had over twice as much rain as normal every months this year from February.
The soil is saturated, the rivers were already at maximum pre-flood levels and had been for weeks.
Lakes and reservoirs were filled to capacity.

Essentially it was a disaster waiting to happen, on a scale similar or worse to a very harsh winter in the Alps with excessive snow followed by a very sudden thaw (which happens once in a while and also causes flooding in the Rhine and Meuse).

Usually that flooding is restricted to the Netherlands because the Germans manage to predict it and direct all the water downstream to where it doesn’t bother them.
This time however it was so much water and the ground so saturated and weak that the ground itself collapsed into the riverbeds in Germany.