Spain flooding one of many global extreme weather disasters: UN weather agency

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The UN weather agency said Friday that flooding in Spain, which is said to have claimed more than 158 lives, is one of many extreme weather and water-related disasters occurring globally.

World Meteorological Organization spokesperson Clare Nullis told a UN press conference: "This year, almost every week, we're seeing such shocking images."

She said: "The lethal record-breaking rainfall and flash floods that have hit Spain, causing many dozens of casualties and massive disruption and economic losses, is the latest series of flooding disasters that have hit communities around the world."

Nullis said the world is facing growing problems of either too much water or too little water, noting that with every degree of warming saturated air contains 7% more water vapor as the global climate warms.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that extreme weather events causing floods and droughts have become more likely and severe due to anthropogenic climate change relating to pollution or the environment, said the WMO spokesperson.

"Similar severe storms have occurred in the Mediterranean basin in the past, highlighting the region's vulnerability to such events," said Nullis.

The intense storm released around a year’s worth of rain in just hours, causing rivers to burst their banks and triggering severe flash floods in Spain's Valencia region. Streets quickly turned into powerful rivers.

Omar Baddour, chief of climate monitoring at the WMO, said at the same press conference: "The Mediterranean basin is prone to severe storms and severe cyclones during the year, particularly at the end of summer. What happened with cold air coming was isolated to a small area over Spain, Portugal, North Morocco, and France.

"This makes what we call atmospheric instability, in metrological terms, and leads to large clouds and heavy downpours in very isolated locations. The phenomenon is widespread in the Mediterranean. We have had many such severe storms in the past."

The Spanish government declared three days of national mourning.