It came so quickly on Saturday, 30 March 2013. One minute the person is concentrated in their daily activity and the next torrential rain causes flash flooding and death. It all happened so quickly. The infrastructure was not adequate to deal with the amount and force of the water. Water crashed into buildings, swept away cars and drowned people trapped in underground parking facilities or pedestrian tunnels.
The capital of Mauritius, Port Louis, has been hard hit in a very short time. At the time of writing this, 11 people have lost their lives. Emotions are high and Monday, 1st April has been decreed a day of mourning. Several areas of the capital are in a pitiful state. Shops and homes have been damaged with thick mud everywhere. Clean-up operations have started in the capital.
Not much else to say about this shocking tragedy. Much has been reported in the press and by fellow bloggers. However, with climate change, the time has come to plan and adjust the infrastructure for such eventualities. It can happen again and again and the cost in lives and loss for the economy can be severe.
Links to press and blog articles: BBC Deadly floods hit Mauritius capital Port Louis BBC News in Pictures - Port Louis, Mauritius floods Yashvinblogs.com - Flooding in Mauritius Velocity93.blogspot.com - Deluge in Mauritius 30 March 2013 BBC Weather report - end of week risk of more
So sorry to hear about these natural calamities that have hit your island paradise. You are right, something must be done about the infrastructure to adapt to the changing climate. In Holland, there are also plans to heighten the dikes because of the rising seawater level. 😉
So sorry to hear about the problems your lovely island and its’ population have just experienced Mike.
It may well be that there is a change to the world’s weather patterns, as over here the winter has been just as bad (or worse) than that experienced 50 years ago and March has proved to be one of the coldest on the current recording systems and even into April – still is…
Whether the forthcoming patterns remain for the worse, or return to some sort of normality, is something that is very difficult to forecast, but as you say, there is definitely a need to be prepared – more than in previous years.
To be honest and to the best of my knowledge, the Mauritius weather problem has not been reported on the main TV news in England, by this evening of the 1st April, which compared to some of the trivia that is being reported currently, is quite shocking.
I trust that yourselves have escaped without any damage or worse..
Regards
Terry