South-Eastern Europe Face Elevated Flood Threat Because of Wet Weather
While cyclones and hurricanes have raged in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, the continent has encountered severe weather of its own. An atmospheric depression that developed over the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of the week moved northeast into south-eastern European countries on Thursday, causing broad showers, stormy weather and lengthy rainfall.
Ongoing Rainfall and Severe Warnings
The system is expected to persist into Friday and beyond, with weather models suggesting two-day accumulations of 80 to 130 millimeters of rainfall across much of the Balkan states. Highest-level advisories were declared for the nation of Serbia, south-west Romania, Greece's northeast, and the Greek isles, emphasizing the danger of floods and risk to human safety. High winds also forced the closure of educational institutions on Zakynthos in the Ionian sea islands.
Cold Air Adds Harshness
Frigid temperatures brought in from Eastern European regions worsened the intensity, generating significant snowfalls across the Dinaric mountain range, with some models predicting depths of nearly three feet by the weekend's end.
Previous Flooding in Spain
Previously, eastern Spain and the Balearic archipelago experienced devastating inundation as the remains of the former hurricane passed over the Iberian peninsula before stalling over the Balearic Sea. Valencia and the island of Ibiza were worst affected; The town of Gandia measured over 350 millimeters in a 12-hour period – more than 10 times its September average, while Ibiza had 254mm in 24 hours, its most precipitation in a day since at least 1952.
Roads, train stations, parks, and school buildings were forced to close, while a rain gauge near the area of Aldaia recorded 57 millimeters in just 35 minutes, causing the La Saleta waterway to flood. The floods come almost a year after devastating inundations in Valencia in 2024 that caused the death of hundreds of residents.
Storm Bualoi Impacts Vietnam
Tropical storm Bualoi struck the coast across Vietnam's central region this past week, delivering torrential rain, strong winds, and massive ocean waves. Over 300 millimeters of precipitation was recorded within a 24-hour span on Monday, triggering rapid flooding and landslides that closed thousands of routes and cut off local populations across provinces in the north. Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed, and rail transport between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were stopped.
There have been 36 lives lost and 147 injuries, with 21 individuals still missing. Hundreds of thousands of residences were damaged or flooded, with in excess of 126,000 acres of agricultural produce ruined. National officials has calculated that the storm has caused more than $350m in property damage this recent period.
