Thursday, October 31

Happy Halloween!

At least 95 people are dead and dozens of others are missing after heavy rain and flash flooding across Spain, and the death toll is expected to rise in the coming days.

The rain arrived on Tuesday and immediately began pouring rain upon the area, devastating everything from small towns to large cities. At least 92 people were killed in the region of Valencia alone, which is located on the country's heavily-populated eastern coast. One area west of Valencia, by the name of Chiva, received one year's worth of rain in just eight hours-- almost 20 inches. The nearby regions of Castile La Mancha and Andalusia were also hard-hit. Then, a second round of rain arrived on Wednesday, primarily impacting Barcelona and the coastal Catalonia region along with the town of Seville in Andalusia.

Several towns have also been isolated by the rains, as roads coming in have been heavily flooded and citizens within them are without power or cellular signal. Around 150,000 people are out of power across Spain, and roads have been closed, trains have been canceled, and schools have been shut down.

The extremely heavy rains washed away cars, roads, trees, bridges, and buildings in a matter of minutes, surprising locals. People told media that they had so little time to escape the flooding that many ended up stuck on bridges, roofs, and trees, while other unfortunate citizens were quickly swept away by the raging waters. In fact, some locals reported seeing cars flow down streets fast enough to smash through walls of buildings, doing even more damage.

Numerous crops were also destroyed in the storm as rain piled up on flat farmland in eastern Spain, which could end up being a supply chain issue. Valencia and Andalusia, two of the hardest-hit regions, combine for over 90% of Spain's citrus fruit production, and the country is the world's largest exporter of citrus. Sadly, many farm animals were also swept away, as well as scores of household pets.

Many locals are criticizing Spain's relatively slow response to the situation-- the country's civil protection agency did not even acknowledge the issue until over two hours after Chiva had flooded, leaving citizens stranded high in trees or on the roofs of buildings. However, search-and-rescue operations have already kicked into high gear, and over 1,000 personnel are now combing the streets for any possible survivors.

This is one of the worst rainfall events to ever hit Spain, and it is the worst to hit Europe since 185 people died in Germany after a storm system in 2021. Unfortunately, some officials estimate that this storm's death toll is likely to pass 100, as dozens of people are still missing and search-and-rescue efforts have just begun. Extreme rainfall events like this will only increase as climate change worsens, as a warming world leads to stronger, more frequent, more powerful storms that carry more precipitation. However, climate change can only be stopped by emitting less greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which means burning less fossil fuels.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The first-ever jack-o'-lantern was carved out of a turnip.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win. (Stephen King)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Syncretism (noun)- Syncretism refers to the combining of different forms of belief or practice.

In a Sentence: As a scholar of religion, Laila is especially interested in the syncretism of Manichaeism, which was influenced by Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism.