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Flooding in Germany, Czech Republic, Austria (Photos)
Internet | 15 August 2002 | Various

Posted on 08/15/2002 1:08:43 PM PDT by tictoc

Swamped by the worst floods in more than a century, citizens in Central Europe are fighting losing battles against rivers swelled to as much as four times regular depth.

Lending a helping hand, one neighbor reaches out to another in Grimma, in German Saxony.

In Dresden, Germany, the famous Semper opera house looms above swirling muddy brown water from the Elbe river that has jumped its banks.

Regensburg, Bavaria: The Danube turns a basketball court into a water polo arena.

Even small streams turn into raging destroyers overnight: the small town of Zeista (Saxony) is ravaged by the formerly placid Seidewitz.

In Krems (Austria), citizens try desperately to stem the tide.

Prague is in no better shape: two forlorn firemen on the lookout for stragglers who have not yet fled their homes.

Kadir, beloved of children and adults alike, is dead. The 35-year old Indian elephant in the Prague zoo, who had starred in several movies and delighted zoo visitors with his gentle nature, was caught in the rising floodwaters. All attempts to rescue the animal by hoisting him out with a crane failed. When the water reached the helpless elephant's nostrils, his old keeper paddled over in a boat and applied a lethal injection, putting Kadir to sleep and sparing him death by drowning.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: climate; flooding; globalwarming; naturaldisasters

1 posted on 08/15/2002 1:08:44 PM PDT by tictoc
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To: tictoc
I bet the Czech movie stars are much more intelligent than ours.
2 posted on 08/15/2002 1:14:06 PM PDT by Guillermo
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To: tictoc
I feel so guilty.... I've been driving a car for years. Didn't think much of it. And now this. Oh the tragedy! I'm so ... evil. I didn't know. I'm evil I tell you! God forgive me for ever setting foot in... a CAR!
3 posted on 08/15/2002 1:26:24 PM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March
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To: Guillermo
I murdered an elephant!
4 posted on 08/15/2002 1:28:49 PM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March
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To: tictoc; backhoe; snopercod
1913 Flood - Montgomery Co. Ohio - Miami Conservancy website

These floods, which killed many people, were the result of a world-wide environmental crisis --- cow flatulence from Europe, Eurasia, and the University of California at Berkeley.

The people of Ohio have not yet been paid for the damages.

5 posted on 08/15/2002 1:41:38 PM PDT by First_Salute
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To: First_Salute
Global warming is real. Warmer air absorbs more moisture, which leads to increased rainfalls, hence more severe floods.

The jury is still out on what causes global warming. Cyclic solar activity? CO2 emissions? Methane gas produced by termites (yes, another hypothesis put forward by scientists?)

I know this, though. Climatologists scored an amazing success in the 1970s when they demonstrated convincingly that emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were the cause of shrinking ozone levels high over the southern hemisphere.

That success, however, has not been repeated in the search for an explanation of global warming trends. The chaotic interactions are so complex and poorly understood that for all we know, human activity might actually be impeding the warming trend.

The greenies trying to take away your SUV claim they know better ...
6 posted on 08/15/2002 1:56:28 PM PDT by tictoc
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To: tictoc
Climatologists scored an amazing success in the 1970s when they demonstrated convincingly that emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were the cause of shrinking ozone levels high over the southern hemisphere.

The individuals who made that discovery weren't climatologists (scientists who study climate). They were atmospheric chemists (scientists who study the chemistry of compounds in the atmosphere).

7 posted on 08/15/2002 2:14:47 PM PDT by cogitator
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To: cogitator
The individuals who made that discovery weren't climatologists (scientists who study climate). They were atmospheric chemists (scientists who study the chemistry of compounds in the atmosphere).

Thank you, I stand corrected.

8 posted on 08/15/2002 2:17:56 PM PDT by tictoc
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To: First_Salute
Oddly enough, my Mom's family is in Ohio, and I recall floods as being a problem up there- many towns have walls or dikes around them.
9 posted on 08/15/2002 2:28:32 PM PDT by backhoe
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To: tictoc; First_Salute
Warmer air absorbs more moisture, which leads to increased rainfalls, hence more severe floods.

Is that a fact? The psychrometric chart notwithstanding, then how do you explain that in the Southeastern United States, it has been hotter and dryer than normal?

Here in North Carolina, 73 counties have declared an emergency due to the unprecedented drought we have experienced this summer. Zero rain for the last four weeks where I live. My neighbor's spring dried up last week and he has to carry water from in town to flush his toilets.

I want reparations from the Europeans! They're stealing our water vapor!

10 posted on 08/15/2002 3:03:49 PM PDT by snopercod
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To: snopercod
Yes, in the northern hemisphere the prevailing winds move eastward (has to do with the Coriolis effect.)
They pick up water moisture over the Atlantic, the warmer the water is the more gets absorbed and later dumped over Europe.

Europeans are not stealing your water in NC, so no reparations for you :-) but you might try suing the West Coast for grabbing Pacific ocean moisture before it reaches you.

Hope your drought ends soon!
11 posted on 08/15/2002 3:15:17 PM PDT by tictoc
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To: tictoc
Half the United States is suffering from a severe drought. I think it is time to declare war on Europe. They have taken all the rain for themselves. Oh the inhumanity of it all!
12 posted on 08/15/2002 3:23:28 PM PDT by montomike
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To: tictoc
Hope your drought ends soon!

I should talk to you more often. I just heard thunder! First time in a month.

Thank you, THANK YOU!

13 posted on 08/15/2002 3:40:38 PM PDT by snopercod
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To: tictoc
One of our fellow FReepers is desperately trying to get back to the states after a failed cruise in this very area.

It's been a nightmare for him. Hopefully, he'll return to his home tomorrow - if they can get out. Maybe we'll hear a first person report this weekend.
14 posted on 08/15/2002 5:10:17 PM PDT by Humidston
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To: Humidston
LOL I hope he doesn't get "sandbagged"... I'll keep my fingers crossed for your FRiend.
15 posted on 08/15/2002 7:49:37 PM PDT by tictoc
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To: tictoc
ABC news tonight had a report from Dresden which ended, "and in neighboring Austria..." Technically true, I suppose, but it is a long way around the Czech Republic to get to Austria.
16 posted on 08/15/2002 8:04:43 PM PDT by LarryLied
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To: snopercod
Here in Minnesota, we got over 1 inch of rain yesterday from about 5 chains of severe storms. I looked at a map of the state divided into counties and at least half of them were under severe storm warning. I saw lightning every 10 seconds last night.
17 posted on 08/17/2002 1:37:14 PM PDT by zapiks44
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To: Arthur Wildfire! March
Europe's water woes / Pittsburghers can identify with flood victims
18 posted on 08/17/2002 1:41:14 PM PDT by Willie Green
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