China: «Climate change increases heavy rains»
The death toll is 48 collapse of a section of motorway in Meizhou, in Guangdong province in southern China. This was reported by the Xinhua agency. Twenty vehicles were involved in the collapse in Dabu county which occurred around 8pm (Italian time) on May 1st. National TV said the collapse was caused by a «natural geological disaster” which occurred “under the impact of heavy persistent rain”. Intense rainfall has hit the province of Guangdong in recent weeks, causing floods and landslides. The rainfall was well above the average for this period preceding the monsoon season.
“The intensification of climate change increases the probability of heavy rains that usually appear only during the summer months,” Yin Zhijie, head of hydrological forecasting at China’s Ministry of Water Resources, said last month. Videos of hailstorms with stones the size of bricks are circulating on social media: impressive.
Brazil: Zaia’s post for Rio Grande do Sul
At least ten people died and 21 others are missing due to flooding caused by torrential rain. The most affected is the State of Rio Grande do Sulwhere many descendants of Italian immigrants live, particularly from Veneto and in fact the Venetian governor Luca Zaia released a post on social media about the disaster which involved around 3,400 people in around a hundred locations who had to abandon their homes. Governor Eduardo Leite said Rio Grande do Sul was facing “the worst disaster in its history”.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva has announced that he will visit the area. In Sinimbu, a town of around 10 thousand inhabitants, the streets have turned into rivers, “shops, commercial activities, supermarkets, everything is razed to the ground, destroyed”, said the mayor Sandra Backes. Since late March, heavy rains in southeastern Brazil have killed 25 people. The south and south-east of Brazil are currently experiencing a cold front following an intense heat wave. Experts attribute these extreme events and weather instability to climate change exacerbated by El Niño.
Kenya and Tanzania: dam collapse, tourists stranded in parks
The toll from the floods that have struck since March has risen to almost 190 victims Kenya, as well as 90 missing and 125 injured. Around 165 thousand people had to leave their homes. This was reported by the Kenyan Ministry of Tourism, according to which El Niño has amplified the rainy season. Last Sunday 52 people died from the collapse of a natural barrier which collapsed due to heavy rains in Mai Mahiu, in the Rift Valley, there are still around fifty missing. Hundreds of tourists stranded in the Masai Mar national parka, where 19 lodges were flooded. Also in Tanzania there were 155 deaths due to floods and landslides. The Dad in the general audience he prayed for Kenya hit by the flood.
