While the southern part of Europe suffers from heat and drought, residents in the northeastern part of the United States have to deal with flash floods caused by heavy rains.
Authorities in Pennsylvania are still searching for two missing children Sunday after Saturday’s flash flooding, in which five people died when the mass of water that suddenly poured onto the road was swept away by their car, MTI reports.
Flash flood warnings were issued for parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire on Sunday, as were tornado warnings. More than 600 flights were canceled at New York airports Sunday due to the storms, and thousands of homes lost power. Governor Cathy Hochul asked the public to stay indoors during the storms.
The northeastern part of America has been experiencing heavy rain for at least a week.
Residents are rescued by boat in Stony Point, New York on July 9, 2023 – Photo by Seth Harrison/Today Network/Reuters
On Sunday, Pennsylvania authorities reported that five people died in flash floods in the town of Upper Macfield, located in the eastern part of the state, on the border with New Jersey. The search is still on for a nine-year-old and a two-year-old.
Four of the victims were members of a South Carolina family who were visiting relatives when their car was struck by lightning. The father and his four-year-old son were still able to escape, but the mother, grandmother, and the two children could not.
According to the local police report, due to the sudden heavy rain from a nearby stream, a one and a half meter high block of water rushed onto the road, where dozens of vehicles were driving, three of which were washed away. water. The strength of the water indicates that, according to the report of the rescue units, a car was found two and a half kilometers away.
The heat doesn’t escape the United States either
While rain is a concern in the northeastern states, a heat alert is in effect in the southwestern United States.
The two phenomena aren’t entirely independent of each other: A stable heat dome over the western states has also contributed to heavy rainfall in the Northeast — and this is expected to continue for days or even weeks, according to the US National Weather Service.
The desert states, Arizona, and Nevada, as well as some parts of Texas, are primarily affected by extreme, prolonged heat, which means daily maximum temperatures exceed 40 degrees in many places. A heat alert is in effect in California and Florida.
Reuters report According to Desert California, it was 53 degrees Celsius on Sunday, and the temperature gauge in front of the Visitor Center in Furnace Creek, California, showed 56 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth was recorded here in July 1913: 56.7 degrees.
Tourists take pictures with a Furnace Creek thermometer on July 16, 2023. The inscription on the sign reads: “Happy Dying Day!” – Photo by David McNew/Getty Images/AFP
Crowds gathered at a popular tourist attraction on Sunday to watch the record-breaking feat (which ended up being narrow), Reuters reported, while emergency services stood by to treat those who fell ill in the sweltering heat.
Not only California is affected by heat, for example, on the 17th in Phoenix, Arizona, temperatures above 43 degrees Celsius were measured, and the temperature set records in many places in Florida as well.
As we wrote, the heat wave is also affecting most of Europe. It’s extremely hot in Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey, among others, but the heat has also reached Hungary, and a red alert was in effect on Saturday.
