Tragic floods in West Virginia: Six fatalities to complain!

Tragic floods in West Virginia: Six fatalities to complain!

In West Virginia, shocking scenes took place last weekend. The floods caused by heavy rains have now cost six people their lives, including a child only three years old. In the region around Wheeling, where up to 10 cm of rain have fallen within 40 minutes, there is still a search for at least two missing people. The residents report extreme floods that increased in no time and confused everything, while some had to save themselves on trees to escape the rising water. The report is reported by a caravan that went up in flames, while vehicles were flushed into flooded streams, which further increased the danger in this area that had already been. The governor of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, has declared the emergency for the affected counties, which underlines the drama of the situation.

The disaster has caused extensive damage: at least 60 houses and 25 shops are affected, and an estimated 30 roads were damaged. The city of Fairmont, about an hour southeast of Wheeling, also recorded heavy rainfall that demolished an outer wall of a residential building, but fortunately the risk of injury was low there. Emergency services in Wheeling are currently in the process of organizing donations such as shovels and hygiene items for sludge distance to help the affected residents. Whec reports that governor Morrisey also reports the municipality of Triadelphia visited where five of the fatalities can be complained.

climate change and natural disasters

experts in the field of atmospheric science point out that the extreme amounts of rain and floods are also connected to climate change. As shown in a detailed report by swp berlin , the USA are often affected by natural disasters, including floods. Forecasts indicate that extreme weather events will increase in the future. President Obama's Interagecy Climate Change Adaptation Task Force has already warned that we have to prepare for more events, and the political and financial opportunities to counteract this are limited.

The region around Wheeling is not the first time to struggle with such devastating floods. 35 years ago there was a flood in which 26 people died, and today's chaos painfully reminds of this tragedy. Such disasters not only call for human life, but also at the moment catastrophic damage to infrastructure and property. Therefore, the need for effective measures to reduce risk and a solid preparation for future natural events remains an important topic in society.

It remains to be hoped that the affected communities will soon be able to return to their usual everyday life, even if the path of restoration will be long and arduous. The current situation is an urgent memory of how quickly nature can convert into unpredictable.