After the flooding in Germany, the death toll exceeded 100 people, more than a thousand people are considered missing. “Lenta.ru” talked with the leading specialist of the weather center “Phobos” Mikhail Leus and found out the cause of the natural disaster.
The Twitter account of the Bild edition reports that the number of confirmed flood victims in Germany has increased to 80, with more than 1.3 thousand people missing in the residential district of Ahrweiler.
Local police officials fear that this is not the total death toll and that more bodies will be found as rescue efforts progress. It is known about roads and streets blocked by water – precisely because the rescue services cannot reach some settlements, so many people are listed as missing.
The authorities used additional military forces to eliminate the consequences of the disaster: it is known that over the last 24 hours more than 850 servicemen have joined the work.
Forecaster: The reason for the flooding is the uneven relief of the region
Leus in an interview with “Lenta.ru” noted that a similar situation can happen in any region that is close enough to the coast and has an uneven relief.
“This cyclone was formed on the maps on the 11th. It was Sunday. German meteorologists named it Bernd. He slowly pumped moisture from the North Atlantic, accumulated it, and on the 14th or 15th gave birth. During these days, up to 240 millimeters of precipitation fell in places. This is somewhere around three monthly norms. The relief there is very similar to our regions. On the one hand, there is a lot of moisture due to the close seas, on the other hand, these are mountainous and foothill areas. That is, the water had time to gain and accelerate on these slopes, ”the forecaster shared.
Leus predicts that the region will drain quickly as it is not on a flat area. He reported that Bernd was already weak.
“Already yesterday the German meteorological service lifted all restrictions related to the danger of weather, and yesterday afternoon the weather did not threaten anyone in terms of thunderstorms and rains. The situation remained difficult due to flooding that had already occurred and the fact that water continued to drain from the mountains, ”the specialist noted.
Summing up, Leus noted that the German Weather Service (DWD) published all reports of heavy rain and thunderstorms on time.
Earlier, the Bild edition reported that the last flood in Germany was the deadliest in the country in several decades. The water has risen 5.75 meters above normal levels – 2 meters higher than the previous record flood – and will rise further. Dozens of houses are known to have been destroyed.
