This latest storm brought winds of more than 90 miles (140 kilometers) an hour and more than a month’s worth of rain in 48 hours in some places, leading officials to issue rare “danger to life” warnings. Severe flood warnings were issued for the central English counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire.
And it is not over yet. As of midday on Monday, according to CTV News Canada, the UK’s Met Office had listed 220 flood warnings for England, along with 20 for Wales and 11 for Scotland.
James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, which is responsible for flood protection told BBC Radio: “We still have many flood warnings in force and we may still see significant flooding in the middle of this week from larger rivers.” He said over 400 homes in England had been flooded while at least 1,000 agency staff were working “to protect and support those communities which have been hit.”
Storm Dennis to spread damaging winds into north central Europe February 16, 2020
The foul weather also forced the cancellation of a group of youth activists’ first-ever national conference in Staffordshire, west-central England, reports CBS News.
“There’s a bleak irony in our being beaten back by climate change,” 15-year-old Sophia from London said in a statement released by Greenpeace U.K. “We are now living in an age of climate storms – where the most extreme weather of the last century is becoming the norm in this one.”
“We’ll never be able to protect every single household just because of the nature of climate change and the fact that these weather events are becoming more extreme,” said British Environment Secretary George Eustice, adding, we have”done everything that we can do with a significant sum of money, and there’s more to come.”
Forest Row, East Sussex #StormDennis #Dennis #flooding
River Medway water level 1.96m and rising. (16h30 16/02/2020) pic.twitter.com/zvRps25Bdb— Scosmico (@Scosmico) February 16, 2020
Storm Dennis has also begun battering parts of Europe. In Germany, at least nine people were injured in weather-related car accidents as high winds and torrential rains brought down trees across roads and railroad tracks.
The rains pummeled much of France, leaving 20,000 homes in the northwest of the country without power on Monday. Rail traffic was also interrupted,
Many rivers are still rising and it may be days before they crest, and people are warned to be alert to more flooding. Many people are missing and fear dead in this storm. There is not an accurate account of the number of people lost.
