Hot, Wet and Deadly
June 27, 2007
In Athens the temperature climbed to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, a 50-year high. The prolonged heat has emergency workers working overtime and has caused dozens of forest fires throughout the country.
According to Greek officials, the heat wave is the worst the country has seen in 110 years and has claimed the lives of more than seven people.
"We have 100 ambulances stationed and on full alert in the capital," emergency services chief Nikos Papaefstathiou said. "We have more emergency calls today than in the past days but we are urging people to call only if they are in real need."
On Cyprus, two elderly people died as electrical workers went on strike causing power cuts throughout the country.
Wet and Hot
Residents of northern England continue to dig out from floods that hit the country over the past few days. The floods which have been
Officials in Worcestershire, west-central England, confirmed the fourth death after police found the body of a driver whose car was swept away by floodwater, emergency services said.
In South Yorkshire authorities were still monitoring a dam which is threatening to burst and has forced the evacuation of some 700 residents. Around the country flood levels are reported to be receding.
"The situation is improving, river levels are falling, and obviously a massive clean-up is underway,“ David Rook, head of flood defense at the Environment Agency, told BBC Radio.
In Romania, officials are stating that over 30 people have been killed since the heat wave began on June 19. On top of the heat, overnight storms in the south of the country have caused power outages in 293 localities. One man was killed when he was hit by a falling branch.
Northern Germany experienced wind gusts of over 60 mph as the storm passed just to the north of the country.
Was it Climate Change?
Extreme weather in Europe as well as flooding in Texas and Asia has prompted the United Nations' top disaster prevention official to call for better global preparedness to cope with such climate-related events in the future.
"We cannot wait to be taken by surprise, we know what is going to happen and we can prepare for it," said Salvano Briceno, director of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.