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5 days ago
- Climate
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‘Very Limited Time To React': Texas Flash Floods Expose Challenges In Early Warning
9 July 2025 The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that the tragedy highlights growing global challenges around extreme rainfall, warning dissemination and community preparedness. Flash floods are the most lethal form of flooding, responsible for over 5,000 deaths annually and 85 per cent of all flood-related fatalities worldwide, according to WMO data, and result in economic losses of more than $50 billion annually. ' Unlike slow-onset river floods, flash floods leave very limited time for reaction,' the agency said in a news release on Wednesday. ' That makes accurate short-term forecasting and community preparedness essential. ' Months of rains in hours Overnight 3 into 4 July, torrential rains – up to 46 centimetres (about 18 inches) in a matter of hours – sent a wall of water surging through Kerr County's Guadalupe River basin at around 4 AM, catching many residents and vacationers off guard. The US National Weather Service issued timely alerts – including a flash flood watch more than 12 hours in advance, upgraded to a flash flood emergency about three hours before impact. The warnings were disseminated by Weather Radio, emergency management systems and television and radio stations, but many people, including hundreds of children at summer camps, were not reached in time. Floodwaters surged dramatically as the Guadalupe River rose nearly 8 metres(about 26feet) in about 45 minutes. Among the hardest hit was the all-girls summer camp, Camp Mystic, along the river, where at least 27 campers and counsellors died, according to media reports. Texas state authorities report that more than 160 people remain missing. The disaster has triggered one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in state history. More frequent and severe floods Flash floods are not new, but their frequency and intensity are increasing in many regions due to rapid urbanization, land-use change and a warming climate. ' A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and so this means that extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent,' WMO said. The Texas disaster joins a string of recent catastrophic floods. In 2022, flash floods in Pakistan killed over 1,700 people and displaced millions. In 2024, floods in Europe, the Middle East and Africa saw $36 billion in economic damages. And just this week, a flash flood along the Nepalese-Chinese border swept away the main bridge linking the two countries. Supporting countries To help countries predict such hazards, WMO operates the Flash Flood Guidance System, a real-time forecasting platform used in over 70 countries. It integrates satellite data, radar, and weather models to detect local flash flood threats and supports training programs to build national capacity. Beyond technology, the agency plays a convening role by building national capacity, certifying experts, and facilitating real-time coordination between forecasting agencies and disaster managers.
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12-05-2025
- Climate
- Scoop
Climate Change Takes Increasingly Extreme Toll On African Countries
12 May 2025 ' Extreme weather and climate change impacts are hitting every single aspect of socio-economic development in Africa and exacerbating hunger, insecurity and displacement,' the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday. WMO said that average surface temperature across Africa in 2024 was approximately 0.86°C above the 1991–2020 average. North Africa recorded the highest temperature change at 1.28°C above the 1991-2020 average, making it the fastest-warming sub-region of Africa. Marine heat spike Sea surface temperatures were also the highest on record. 'Particularly large increases in sea surface temperatures have been observed in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea,' WMO said. Data shows that almost the entire ocean area around Africa was affected by marine heatwaves of strong, severe or extreme intensity last year and especially the tropical Atlantic. Head of WMO, Celeste Saulo, warned that climate change is an urgent and escalating problem across the African continent 'with some countries grappling with exceptional flooding caused by excessive rainfall and others enduring persistent droughts and water scarcity'. El Niño influence Highlighting Africa's particular vulnerability to our warming planet – caused mainly by rich nations burning fossil fuels – the UN agency said that floods, heatwaves and droughts forced 700,000 people out of their homes across the continent last year. WMO also noted that the El Niño phenomenon was active from 2023 into early 2024 and 'played major roles in rainfall patterns' across Africa. In northern Nigeria alone, 230 people died in floods last September that swept across the capital of Borno state, Maiduguri, displacing 600,000, severely damaging hospitals and contaminating water in displacement camps. Regionally, rising waters caused by torrential rains ravaged West Africa and impacted a staggering four million people. Conversely, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe suffered the worst drought in at least two decades, with cereal harvests in Zambia and Zimbabwe 43 per cent and 50 per cent below the five-year average, respectively. Heat shock Heatwaves are also a growing threat to health and development and Africa, WMO said, noting that the past decade has also been the warmest on record. Depending on the dataset, 2024 was the warmest or second-warmest year. Blistering temperatures already impact children's education, with schools closing in March 2024 in South Sudan as temperatures reached 45°C. Worldwide, at least 242 million pupils missed school because of extreme weather in 2024, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF. Beyond education, rising temperatures across the continent are making Africa more water-scarce and food-insecure, with North African countries the hardest-hit. South Sudan focus Erratic weather patterns across Africa are also hindering farming, driving food insecurity and displacing people who have already had to flee war already, WMO explained. Last October, for example, flooding affected 300,000 people in South Sudan – a hefty figure for a nation of 13 million, scarred by years of civil strife and where infrastructure is poor. The disaster wiped out cattle, adding up to between 30 and 34 million farm animals – roughly two per inhabitant – and stagnant water fuelled diseases. Families who had been self-sufficient had to seek help once again. 'When someone slides back into being fed, it affects their dignity,' said Meshack Malo, South Sudan Country Representative for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). At the forefront of climate change, the troubled East African country is already dealing with a crippling economic crisis, mass displacement made worse by the war in neighbouring Sudan, as well as escalating tensions at home and pervasive violence. Fighting in Sudan has derailed the South Sudanese economy, which relies on oil exports for 90 per cent of its national revenue, reports indicate. Destructive cycle When South Sudan is not hit by floods, it is plagued by drought. 'This cyclic change between floods and drought, makes the country affected almost a good part of the year,' said Mr. Malo. Flooding has worsened and become more intense and frequent in recent years. 'That means that any short rain then can easily trigger the flooding, because water and the soil remain quite saturated,' Mr. Malo added. 'So that intensity and frequency makes this situation worse.' With road access disrupted for aid trucks, UN agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) must airlift food assistance – a costly, impractical solution, as humanitarian funding dwindles. Pushing back In the South Sudanese town of Kapoeta, the FAO has helped to reduce the number of dry months from six to two, by harvesting and storing water to protect crops at risk from climate change. 'The impact of drought is no longer felt as much,' FAO's Mr. Malo said, speaking to UN News from the capital, Juba. Worth its salt In countries that lack water resources for crop irrigation, climate resilience and adaptation are critical, Dr. Ernest Afiesimama of the WMO Regional Office for Africa in Addis Ababa, told journalists. And while desalination – the process of removing salt from seawater – may be a solution for some, for many African nations it is not viable. Rather than turning to desalination as a panacea, investing in adaptation measures including early warning systems for action and preparedness is urgently needed, environmental scientists say. 'Considering the challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, [desalination] presents a complex economic, environmental and social challenge, and there is a question about its long-term sustainability and equity,' said Dr. Dawit Solomon, Contributor at Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA). 'Africa is facing a high climate change bill. Imagine the continent which is struggling economically and then facing this additional risk multiplier,' Dr. Salomon added.
