The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (Wmo) said on Monday that more intense showers and glacier lighting floods are becoming more and more frequent, with deadly consequences for communities caught.
“” Sudden floods are not new, but their frequency and intensity increase in many regions due to rapid urbanization, the change of land use and a changing climate“Said Stefan Uhlenbrook, Director of Hydrology, Water and the Cryosphere of the OMM.
Each additional degree of warming Celsius allows air to contain about 7% additional water vapor.
“” This increases the risk of more extreme precipitation events. At the same time, the risks of flooding in glaciers increase due to improved ice melting in a warmer climate“, He added.
Thousands of lives lost each year
Sudden floods and floods make thousands of lives each year and cause Billions of dollars of damage. In 2020, serious floods across South Asia killed more than 6,500 people and caused $ 105 billion in economic losses.
Two years later, Catastrophic floods in Pakistan Leave more than 1,700 dead, 33 million people affected and losses exceeding $ 40 billion, reversing years of development winnings.
This year, the assault continued. In July, South Asia, East Asia and the United States have seen a series of fatal events, monsoon rains with glacial lake and sudden floods.
Each year, extreme weather conditions and climatic events have a huge number of lives and economies worldwide.
Asia coil of the MOSSON Assault
In India and Pakistan, the heavy monsoon rains broke the transport links, washed the houses and launched landslides. Pakistan has declared the state of emergency In its most affected areas, the deployment of military helicopters for rescue missions after the forecasters warned against the risk of exceptional flood along the upper Jhelum river.
The Republic of Korea has undergone record showers between July 16 and 20, with precipitation greater than 115 mm per hour in certain places. At least 18 people were killed and more than 13,000 were evacuated.
In southern China, the authorities published sudden floods and landslide alerts on July 21, just a day after Typhoon Wipha beaten Hong Kong, highlighting the composed risks of sequential storms.
Texas flash flood hits night
Overnight on July 4, a A sudden deluge transformed Texas Hill Country into a disaster zonekilling more than 100 people and leaving dozens missing. In a few hours, 10-18 inches (25–46 cm) of rain overwhelmed the Guadalupe river basin, sending the river up 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes.
The 1-day precipitation totals of the Imerg Multi-Satellite precipitation product of NASA show strong precipitation on the center of Texas on July 4, 2025.
Many victims were young girls in a summer camp, took the current while flood waters tear the dormitories around 4 am. Although the National Weather Service US has expressed warnings in advance, local sirens were missing and the final alerts came when most were sleeping.
The glacier test floods the rise
Not all floods are caused by rain.
In the Rasuwa district in Nepal, a sudden explosion of a supraglacial lake – formed on the surface of a glacier – swept the hydroelectric power plants, a major bridge and commercial roads on July 7. At least 11 people were killed and more than a dozen would have disappeared.
Scientists from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICimod), a WMO partner, for example Floods of glacial origin in the Hindu region of Kush-Himalaya occur much more often two decades agoWhen you could hit every five to 10 years.
In May and June 2025 only, three ice lighting floods hit Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with two others in Nepal on July 7. If warming continues, the risk of these floods could triple at the end of the century.
After a flood that swept a high altitude village in Nepal.
Fill the warning difference
WMO intensifies efforts to improve flood forecasts thanks to its global real-time initiative and guidance platform, now used in more than 70 countries.
The system incorporates satellite data, radar and high -resolution weather models to signal threats of hours in advance and develops in an interoperable framework on the world led by the country.
A World Bank study in 2022 estimated that 1.81 billion people – almost a quarter of the world’s population – are directly exposed to flooding events of 1 in 100 years, 89% living in low and intermediate income countries.
The UN The first warnings for all The initiative aims to guarantee that everyone, everywhere, is protected by early alert systems by 2027.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
