Extreme Flooding, Storms Keep Popping Up

Extreme flooding in Zhenghou, China this week.

 Massive storms and flooding keep popping up in various parts of the world as extreme weather events become the new normal.  After the cataclysmic flooding in Germany, new big water disasters occurred this week in China, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Turkey and Arizona. 

CHINA

Enormous floods in China this week killed at least two dozen people, mostly in Henan province, In that regions capital, Zhengzhou,   The amount of rain that normally falls over the course of a year came in just three days, the BBC reports.  

Two feet of rain fell there just on Tuesday, which is the same amount as Zhengzhou's normal rainfall for an entire year. Eight inches of that coming within just one hour.  

According to meteorologist Minghao Zhou on Twitter, it's a record for any of the 2,400 reporting stations in China, and might be a world record for the most intense downpour in a city of more than 10 million. Zhengzhou is home to about 12 million. 

This is another case of extreme weather this year far exceeding previous records. Happening a lot, isn't it?

 The inevitable result was a catastrophic flood that sent deep water through most of the city.   There's harrowing video circulating on social media of subway passengers in Zhengzhou trapped in chest and neck deep water inside rail cars. 

Twelve people died in the subways and stations, though another 1,000 or so were rescued from train cars and underground stations, according to The Guardian. 

As the Guardian notes, China has pretty bad flooding every summer, but rapid urbanization, paving over farmland and climate change have all conspired to create a worsening, deadlier trend in the nations' flooding issues. 

TURKEY

Extreme flooding also hit the Black Sea region of Turkey over the past week or so, causing at least six deaths. Video showed deep rushing water swirling around high rise buildings and cars bouncing along in the rapids. Other video showed houses toppling into raging rivers. 

Floods are common in this part of Turkey in the summer, but again, these were much worse than usual. 

NEW ZEALAND

Parts of New Zealand have also been afflicted by record setting floods this month. Rivers in the Marlborough region of the nation hit record crests after nearly a foot of rain fell over two days last week. 

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the floodwaters.  New flood control walls and dikes did help prevent damage in some areas along the flooded rivers. 

ARIZONA

Flash flooding is also common in Arizona in mid to late summer, as monsoon moisture flows into the state, setting off intense desert thunderstorms. 

The state was looking forward to this year's monsoon season, as the area was deep in severe drought and monsoons in recent summers have been lackluster at best.  

Now, Arizona is getting too much of a good thing. 

Deep in drought, Arizona welcomed a more robust monsoon season this month which has dumped rain on the parched state. But suddenly, parts of Arizona are getting too much of a good thing. 

Flash flooding has really become a serious issue out there. You might have seen the video of the Prius being swept away in a dramatic Flagstaff, Arizona flash flood last week, for instance. The city of Flagstaff has declared a state of emergency because of the flooding. 

It's going to get worse today. NOAA's Weather Prediction Center says there's so much moisture pooling in Arizona that rainfall rates could reach two to four inches per hour in the worst thunderstorms.  This would cause some pretty extreme flash flooding in a part of the nation where an inch of rain can set off pretty big floods and debris flows.

A weather disturbance moving westward from Texas will help intensify today's desert rains. 

The flash floods that have already hit the Flagstaff area were made much worse by debris flows from areas hit by flooding. 

Today, the areas at biggest risk are in and near where large wildfires burned this year and last. Massive debris flows are likely. 

Floods have always occurred and will always occur.  But in general, they're generally worse than in the past because of climate change. 

Warmer air can hold more moisture. That means, if other factors come together to produce storms, chances are the rainfall rates will be higher than if climate change were not a factor. 

For us Vermonters watching all this bad news, at least we have nothing exciting coming up in the next few days.  It might rain, especially Saturday night and maybe Sunday, but no flooding is in the forecast.