{"id":6736,"date":"2024-10-02T08:49:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T08:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varosieso.hu\/2024\/10\/02\/what-has-just-happened-foreshadows-the-future-how-to-protect-against-flash-floods-in-cities\/"},"modified":"2024-12-04T17:04:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T17:04:14","slug":"what-has-just-happened-foreshadows-the-future-how-to-protect-against-flash-floods-in-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varosieso.hu\/en\/2024\/10\/02\/what-has-just-happened-foreshadows-the-future-how-to-protect-against-flash-floods-in-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"What has just happened foreshadows the future: how to protect against flash floods in cities?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent weeks, Budapest and several areas of Hungary have been hit by severe flooding due to sudden rainfall.
\nThe capital has been particularly affected, with flash floods causing serious problems in several districts.
\nDue to the flooding, a third level of flood protection has been declared, the lower embankment has been closed, traffic has to be reorganised in several places, the H\u00c9V, metro line 2 and several tram lines are affected.
\nBut why is all this happening? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

A little meteorology<\/h4><\/div>

We already knew from the forecasts around 13 September that a Mediterranean cyclone was coming to Central and Eastern Europe that could cause problems.
\nThese cyclones typically arrive from the Atlantic, bringing moist air masses.
\nThey ‘stall’ at the tops of the Alps, sucking in warm air over the Mediterranean and depositing the precipitation they bring with them over the land. <\/span><\/p>\n

These cyclones are typical from spring to autumn, but due to climate change, they now tend to arrive in autumn and move more slowly inland, so the rainfall they carry is spread over a smaller area, causing localised flash floods.
\nThis is also the reason why the impact of cyclone Boris, which has recently arrived in Central-Eastern Europe, has become critical in the Danube and Lajta catchments.
\nIn figures: between 7 and 14 September, the water level at the Rajka, which was around 50 cm, rose by more than 5 metres in a very short space of time, to 574 cm in 3.5 days <\/span>.
\n( <\/span>F\u00fclke – HVG’s public affairs podcast<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

There is perfect protection, but it may not be worth it<\/h4>\n<\/div>

That we will see an increase in extreme weather events like the one we are experiencing now has been said by experts for decades when they talk about climate-adaptive water management.
\nClimate-adaptive water management is based on local, community-level vulnerability assessments that look at how exposed a community is to these events and how well it can adapt to them. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span>
Photo: Facebook<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

So water management at the municipal level not only looks at the risk of drought, flash floods and flooding, how many millimetres can fall and how much the water level will rise, but also considers management options: the available tools and their possible implementation, such as the sizing of ditches, sump pumps, rain gardens, underground cisterns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The aim is not to build huge ditches, dams and reservoirs to protect against all floods, so adaptation involves accepting that streets can sometimes flood. So there can be perfect protection against flooding, but it may not be worth the investment. It is therefore the responsibility of every municipality to prepare for the most extreme weather events, including an operational warning system and protocol,in<\/a> cooperation with the population.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The above shows that a complex approach to urban stormwater management is needed.
\nWhat does this mean? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>