Floods in Russia and in the world: what are they connected with and what damage they caused

Lyudmila Butuzova

The oceans billed the planet

What is the reason? One of the versions is the global warming process. Glaciers are melting, sea levels are starting to rise, and this could lead to many regions being submerged. Hydrometeorological centers of different countries warned citizens. But the global scale of what happened (severe floods hit 8 corners of the planet) suggests that many countries either did not prepare for a meeting with the disaster, or hoped that the blows of the World Ocean were not dangerous for their strong economies.

America was one of the first to receive the challenge. For three days, May 18-21 due tropical volley showers in Louisiana, all the streets of Lake Charles were flooded. 100 households were submerged, dozens of private estates were destroyed “incompatible with life”. Residents were evacuated. 5 dead. The damage amounted to 2 million 100 thousand dollars.

In early July, Europe experienced a series of floods caused by Cyclone Bernd. West Germany suffered the most from the elements. 200 people were killed, more than 170 were missing, more than 700 people were injured. Roads, railways, bridges and other significant structures were damaged. The authorities acknowledged that the scale of the tragedy is only partly due to the sudden onset of the cyclone. It was in this western part of Germany that the bank protection system was in private hands and turned out to be absolutely unprepared for disaster.

The floods also affected Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Austria and Romania. At the moment, the approximate amount of damage from floods in Europe is more than 20.4 billion euros, of which 9.3 billion euros falls on Germany.

Extreme rainfall - the strongest in a thousand years! - according to Chinese meteorologists, hit China on July 17. The culprit is tropical storm Cempaka. In the city of Zhengzhou, Henan province, 3 monthly rainfall rates of 457.5 mm were poured out per day. All major rivers in the east of the country overflowed the banks. Most of the province was under water, the subway and many buildings were flooded, 71 people died, more than 30 thousand were injured. Near Zhengzhou, the water could not withstand the pressure and the dam collapsed. The province of Sichuan is completely flooded. 800 thousand residents were evacuated from the disaster zone. The natural disaster cost China tens of millions of dollars.

In general, the US NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) estimates the economic damage from floods in the world at $ 93 billion. In some countries, natural disasters continue to rage. it is assumed that losses from cataclysms can cost hundreds of billions of dollars. According to NOAA scientists, this is "the price of carelessly ignoring the challenges of the oceans".

Russia: the most severe floods and floods in recent years

In Russia, 40-70 large floods occur annually. These natural disasters affect about 500 thousand square meters. km, where 300 cities, tens of thousands of settlements, more than 7 million hectares of farmland are located. The inundated areas are home to about 5 million people.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, over the past seven years (from 2013 to 2020), most of the floods occurred in the south of the Far East (Primorsky Territory, Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory), as well as in Altai Territory, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk and Moscow regions. Among large cities, the leaders in flooding are Ussuriysk (Primorsky Territory), Atkarsk (Saratov Region), Blagoveshchensk (Amur Region) and Veliky Ustyug (Vologda Region). These cities have been flooded more than seven times in the last seven years. Ussuriisk was flooded 12 times, the same amount - the urban-type settlement Makhnevo in the Sverdlovsk region. The most common flood scenario in Russia is the simultaneous flooding of several nearby villages at once. So, in April 2016 in the Sverdlovsk region, floods hit 53 settlements at once, among which 48 are small workers' settlements, villages and hamlets.

The scale of flooding of regions and settlements is estimated in Russia by the number of households affected by floods. Over the past seven years, the disaster has caused the greatest damage to residential buildings and household plots in the Primorsky Territory - 26.3 thousand. A total of 15.3 thousand households were affected in the Irkutsk region, 13 thousand in the Altai region, 8.2 thousand in the Tyumen region, 7.6 thousand in the Khabarovsk region, 7 thousand in the Jewish Autonomous region, and 7 thousand in the Amur region 6.4.

In the summer of 2021, floods in Russia came to the old addresses of the Khabarovsk and Trans-Baikal Territories, the Amur and Jewish Autonomous Oblasts were again captured by the elements.

Transbaikalia. July 14-25 spill of 6 rivers. Under water 500 hectares of land, 282 households. The dams were broken, bridges and power lines were demolished, the road surface on the Chita - Khabarovsk highway was damaged. Several thousand residents were evacuated, about 5,000 people were recognized as injured. The damage to the region is estimated at 716 million rubles. In mid-September, Prime Minister Mishustin sent over 73 million rubles. for one-time financial assistance to the victims, as well as for payments related to full or partial loss of property. Then the federal center allocated another 401 million rubles for the creation of temporary dams, water drainage canals, and bank protection works. The total length of protective structures in the region should exceed 58 km. Will there be a flood of this level again? Most likely, yes, the landscape at the edge is "poor", temporary fortifications and structures traditionally serve until the first heavy rain.

Chukotka. The flood took place from 10 to 15 July. The elements (as usual) covered entire villages. In two of them - Markovo and Vaegi - - there is nothing to save - the swollen Anadyr and Main swallowed up the peasant houses. There are 103 private areas under water. 77 families were evacuated. There are no casualties. Flood damage of at least 7 million rubles.

Ulan-Ude - the capital of Buryatia - sailed on July 14. The downpour left the city without electricity. Several streets were flooded, asphalt was carried away by water and trees were knocked down. The rescuers who arrived noted the almost complete absence of a storm drainage system, although the officials reported on June 9 that they were fully prepared to confront the elements. The local commission counted quite modest damage from the flood - 370,000 rubles. There were three injured - a passenger car was thrown by a stream directly onto a pole.

Khabarovsk Territory, Verkhnebureinsky District. The flooded rivers Urgal and Bureya swallowed up two villages, 89 houses and 5 road bridges. 270 injured, 200 of them were evacuated by the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The damage has not yet been calculated.

Amurskaya Oblast. In early August, a cyclone brought squally winds and torrential rains to the region. At least 60 residential buildings and about 400 household plots were under water. More than a thousand residential premises were flooded, 488 km of roads (regional and federal), 39 bridges, 107 culverts were damaged. 1.3 thousand people were recognized as victims. The regional government has estimated the total damage from the disaster at 6.2 billion rubles.

And yet, the weather frenzy in Russia this time began not from the Far East, but from the Crimea. The city of Kerch suffered floods two times - in June and early July, Yalta - three times.

Kerch. The flood lasted from June 14 to 18, peaking on the 17th. During the day, a two-month norm of precipitation fell, the Melek-Chesme river came out of the banks. 16 hectares of land, 248 households were under water. Hundreds of residential buildings were left without electricity and drinking water. The second wave covered the city on July 3-5: 1700 evacuees, one victim. Preliminary damage over 16 million rubles.

Yalta. The beginning of June 18, the second blow of the elements on the 26th. 19 hectares under water, 11 injured, 2 people died. Repeated flooding on July 3-5: 250 households were damaged, 300 people were evacuated. During the flood, a rift formed on Lomonosov Street, in which several cars disappeared. Incessant "tropical" rains overflowed the beds of reservoirs in Yalta and the Bakhchisarai region. Water-filled karst caves threw freshly absorbed water back into the streets. All this, plus the unbearable heat (air heating above normal) and the accompanying extreme thunderstorms led to the fact that the amount of moisture that fell down in a short time became critical and led to mudflows.

Bakhchisarai region. A mudflow, driven by large water, hit the area on July 3-5. Flooded 355 hectares, 17 500 hectares in the zone of medium flooding. Belbekskaya Valley, 104 households are completely under water. 150 people were evacuated, 19 received emergency assistance, one person died. Damage as a result of flooding is not less than 13 million rubles.

In general, the entire southern half of Taurida, from the extreme east to the west, was in the natural disaster zone. The total economic losses of the peninsula are estimated at 150 million rubles. This is not counting the crushing blow to the tourism industry, which was damaged by the flood of more than a billion rubles.

Sochi (Krasnodar Territory) is an expected drama in the humid subtropics. All May and the very beginning of June is the “planned” time for heavy rains. Only this time they turned out to be apocalyptic - “salvo” in the language of science. Within a few hours, the monthly rainfall fell. The main flood occurred on July 4-6, the second wave "caught up" with Sochi on July 23. 500 hectares of the resort area were under water. 300 private yards were destroyed. 136 people were evacuated from the most dangerous places. 7 people died. Damage not less than 18 million rubles. It could have been significantly lower if not for violations of the construction technology of the Olympic facilities, which affected the operation of the Sochi rain drainage system. Only 2 rivers left the banks - Matsesta and Dagomys. Without drainage outlets, the water began to destroy the resort town...

The destructive season in Russia is not over yet. In the first half of the year, 574 dangerous hydrometeorological events occurred - 18% more than last year, follows from the report Hydrometeorological Center. Judging by the forecast, there are long rains and stormy winds ahead, the upward trend in climatic risks will continue. This means that new challenges await Russian citizens and the country's economy. In addition to those already now (at the end of September 2021) recorded by the Ministry of Emergencies. More than 440 settlements in 63 regions were affected by floods and floods. More than 6,000 residential buildings, 21,000 household plots, 300 low-water bridges, 500 sections of highways and 100 socially significant objects were flooded. Aid was provided to more than 50,000 people, over 6,000 were evacuated from emergency zones, of which 1,200 victims who lost their homes and property were sent to temporary accommodation centers.

World Lessons and Regional Findings

Disasters in the country and world in 2021, strengthen the scientific version that for the most part they are associated with global warming and rise in the water level in the oceans. According to the staff of the Institute of Atmosphere and Climate at the Higher Technical School of Zurich, this does not mean that a disaster is inevitable for all mankind . Analysis, and most importantly - the difference in the consequences for different countries from a collision with the elements, says only that it is worthwhile to better prepare for the upcoming events. In Germany, for example, emergencies made people realize that the water infrastructure, no matter how reliable it may seem, requires constant improvement: the modernization of storm drains in cities has already begun, the strengthening of coastlines is in full swing, and a ban on the construction of buildings in river floodplains has been introduced. Previous recommendations on how and where to build residential buildings were based on data from 1947. At that time, German experts underestimated the danger of showers. In many European cities, street coverings are being removed that trap moisture and create an additional greenhouse effect - the temperature on the surface rolled into asphalt is 10 degrees above atmospheric.

What is in Russia? Once again, it was concluded that road and street collectors are not ready for heavy rains. Somewhere they took care of their clearing symbolically, somewhere not at all. Many utilities could not cope with the cleaning in conditions when a squall every day tore more and more branches from the trunks, or even broke trees entirely. We know the result - 300 flooded cities. With all the desire to justify this by the global warming of the World Ocean, it is impossible. But the eternal Russian problem - underfunding of measures to prevent and prevent natural disasters - is quite suitable.

Just about this on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (Vladivostok, September 4, 2021), said the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Kozlov:

"Under the conditions of guaranteed financing within the framework of the federal project" Protection from the negative impact of water and ensuring the safety of hydraulic structures in the Russian Federation "by 2024, we will build and reconstruct more than 380 kilometers of engineering protection structures. More than 55% of problem areas of river beds will be cleared" (quote according to RIA Novosti").

To the question - how much money has the federal budget allocated for these purposes? - the minister threw up his hands. The Ministry of Natural Resources also formed a new federal project to protect the population from floods. Most of the events are planned for the Far Eastern regions, where the risks are traditionally high. However, the project is currently limited in funding. Budget funds - 75 billion rubles - are spent annually on compensation for damage from floods.

Special opinion

Meanwhile, nature itself could tame the water element and minimize the economic damage from floods, if it was treated humanly. Alexey Zimenko, General Director of the Center for Wildlife Conservation, with details specially for NI:

- Damage to the economy and nature depends primarily on the type of flood. If the rise in water is caused by a flood or flood that leads to flooding mainly of river floodplains, only structures that are unwisely built in potential flood zones can be affected. High floods are more dangerous, leading to flooding not only of floodplains, but also of river valleys. At the same time, the larger the flooded area, the more significant the damage to the economy and farmland.

Such floods become catastrophic most often in areas where natural systems are disturbed by human activities - deforestation, plowing of meadows, etc. In such places, forests and meadows lose their protective properties to absorb excess moisture and regulate its runoff. The damage from catastrophic floods can be enormous. But not due to the destruction of housing, outbuildings and other objects, as is commonly believed, but as a result of loss of soil cover, which is washed away by unusually strong streams of water. Soils are a resource on which human life and environmental well-being largely depend, but they recover for a very long time - for years and decades, or practically do not recover.

As a result of climate change, such catastrophic events are occurring more and more often. If a person is not stopped, in the coming decades the situation, unfortunately, will only worsen - the frequency and severity of floods will increase.