THIS WET WORLD

“Tis the wrath of (the) God(s) or just another unusual year for natural disasters. 

Although not a “disaster” Ne w Jersey had an earthquake last week. Of course you had to be almost standing on top of it to have felt it.

I am not going to dwell on the “wind” related storms, or the extraordinary large number of wild fires that have plagued the American West and earlier Australia this year.

Instead 2013 may be remembered as the year of the floods. Not so much in the US where with the exception of earlier flooding of the upper Mississippi which necessitated a stoppage of shipping, Only West Texas had severe enough flooding that Two women  died in severe flooding in San Antonio, which had been hit by torrential rains.  

Severe flooding has been a worldwide phenomenon this May and June. In Europe, although the Rhine was not affected badly this year Shipping was halted on extensive stretches of the Rhine, Main, and Neckar rivers.

The two river systems that did have major flooding were the Elbe and the Danube. The Elbe and its tributaries, the Saale (Germany) and the Vltava (Czech Republic) experienced severe flooding, Prague esplanades were under water, as was central areas of Dresden among other cities.

Even worse was the Danube system. Austria had seen 2 months’ of rain fall in 24 hours. The historic centre of Passau, where the Danube, Inn and Ilz converge, was underwater with the highest recorded levels in history. Also impacted were Budapest  and Bratislava; s were other river towns.

Australia too had major flooding this In January 2013, ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald and associated monsoon trough passed over parts of Queensland and New South Wales.

Just this past week Calgary, Alberta city center was submerged Alberta, Canada, experienced heavy rainfall that triggered catastrophic flooding described by the provincial government as the worst in Alberta's history. Areas along the Bow, Elbow, Highwood, Red Deer, Sheep and South Saskatchewan rivers and their tributaries were particularly affected.

In June 2013, the North Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some regions of Western Nepal and their adjoining areas experienced heavy rainfall that triggered devastating floods and landslides, As of 22 June 2013, more than 1,000 people have died with many more missing

The flooding has not been limited to the north in India. Parts of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall. This included the Ganges River.

The 2013 Jakarta flood is a flooding of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and affected several other areas surrounding the city, such as West Java and Banten.

Severe flooding is reported to have hit Jakarta on numerous occasions in the past, including in 1621, 1654, 1918, 1942, 1976, 1996, 2002 and 2007. An important part of the flooding problem is caused by the fact that a substantial part of Jakarta is low-lying. Around 24,000 ha (about 240 square km) of the main part of Jakarta is estimated to be below sea level. Flooding can become severe if heavy rains happen to coincide with high tides.

Other parts of the world that have had flood disasters this year include Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and the. Greater La Plata  region at least 86 reported deaths. And Greater Buenos Aires reported 8 deaths and is said to be the worst flooding in La Plata's history.

In Columbia 140,000 people have been affected by floods and landslides. Almost 700 homes were destroyed and over 14,000 damaged. The most affected areas were on the Pacific Coast in Chocó.

Africa had to participate; Mozambique has had severe rainstorms this year with destructive flooding and many deaths.