Weather and weather topics on October 13th, 2024: Floods in Africa – millions of people affected

Hurricanes in the USA, the recent floods in Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic and the torrential rains in Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It’s terrible. The biggest catastrophe is currently taking place in Africa. According to the UN, almost 900,000 people are affected by severe flooding in Sudan alone. This was announced by the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (Okha).

There are floods across the country, forcing people to flee their villages, according to the Ocha report. The same picture in neighboring Chad. Almost two million people were affected by the floods last week. That corresponds to around ten percent of the population, says Ocha. At least 576 people have died since the end of July. More than 200,000 houses and tens of thousands of hectares of farmland and pastureland were destroyed, as well as schools, health centers and other infrastructure in the country.

The Sahel region is particularly affected by climate change. If we protect the climate and enable people there to live a dignified life, we also limit migration.

At least seven people have died in the Brazilian metropolitan region of São Paulo after heavy rain and squalls. The civil defense of the state of São Paulo said there were three deaths after a wall collapsed, two from fallen trees and two more in a landslide. At least three other people were treated in serious condition, the G1 news portal reported.

In São Paulo, strong gusts of wind and heavy rain were recorded in several regions on Saturday night, according to civil protection.

High Vincent has no staying power and has given way to Low Helma over the North Sea. The low will bring stormy, showery weather today. The wind picks up strongly at night and reaches between 50 and 80 km/h during the day with heavy showers in the lowlands. Even higher wind speeds are possible on the coast and in the mountains, and up to 130 km/h can be reached on the peaks of the Alps.

On Sunday there will be repeated showers during the day and thunderstorms towards the North Sea. In the south and southwest, the showers and stormy winds will soon subside again as the day progresses. Highs 10 to 15, on the Upper Rhine up to 17 degrees.

Is there rain? Better look at the current radar

Will we manage to turn our energy supply green? There is a hopeful signal: A new report from the Brussels think tank “Strategic Perspectives” has now determined that investments in a climate-neutral economy in the EU will have reached a new high of $334 billion in 2023.

Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of USD 76 billion, which flowed into the expansion of renewable energies and climate-friendly heating systems in the EU. Although the investment volume in the EU was larger than in the USA, at the same time it is not enough to keep up with China’s ambitions as a global market leader in the cleantech sector. But at least: It’s going in the right direction.

Reading tip: EU Green Deal is having an impact – Europe is moving into the fast lane when it comes to renewables

It’s going to be stormy today. Deep Helma pulls through. There may be heavy showers.

Meteorologically and climatologically, October is in the middle of autumn. This makes it a month of storms, but it can also be really wintry. In the past even with severe frost below -10 degrees. And of course the summer with its last bit of heat still has a chance, as meteorologist Paul Heger explains in the video above.