Floods have ripped through central Europe, killing at least 17 people, with governments across the region taking emergency measures and preparing to spend hundreds of millions of euros on the cleanup.
Flows in the Danube — Europe’s second-longest river — were at levels statistically likely only once every 85 years, after Storm Boris dumped torrential rain on Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Red weather alerts remain in place, with thousands of people already evacuated over the weekend.
After a summer of heat waves across southern Europe, the destructive storm — mixing cold air from the north with moisture drawn from the warm waters of the Mediterranean — may be another sign that climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. It’s also forcing governments to set aside scarce funds to rebuild.
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