On Wednesday night (July 10th) a sudden , out of nowhere, terrifying hail storm, hit Halkidiky peninsula , leaving seven dead people, dozens of others injured , and huge damage. According to the locals it was an "unprecedented phenomenon", "a weather bomb". Halkidiki (also spelt Chalkidiki), near the greek town of Thesaloniki - is popular for its beaches and hotels, so most of the casualties were tourists.
There were no specific warning signs which could enable alertness and preparedness (except, perhaps, a hint from the unusual heat waves Europe is going through now).
That's the worst case scenario - bad things happening suddenly like with earthquakes. Is this the big news of Climate Change? Sudden, abrupt, deadly?
The above piece of news reminds me of a conversation I once had with a farmer living under the Vesuvium volcano. The authorities, he believed, were keeping an eye on the volcano's activity and constantly planning the safety of the local farmers. Well, nowadays, with all this climate change, the volcano might erupt suddenly and forcefully, 'forgetting' to give any signs of its intentions to the monitoring authority...
on the edge of the Vesuvio crater
Anyway, we should pay attention to these places: islands and peninsulas; this is where climate change is and will be seen at its worst.
There has been a few hailstorms here in France recently, but not in our area fortunately, and certainly none with such a severe results. Does make me think, though. Our weather has been all over the place this past year.
ReplyDeleteYou should read about it and see the pictures. It will ,indeed, make you think and wonder whether there's a new pattern here. The lightnings, for example, were non-stop turning the night into day. Scary!
Deletethanks for sharing this. i wish everything will be okay in no time.
ReplyDeleteanyway, I like your blog, wanna follow each other? please let me know. thanks :)
JULIE ANN LOZADA BLOG
INSTAGRAM: @julieann_lozada
Thanks Julie for stopping by. I like your blog too; it's very versatile and rich in subjects.
DeleteMay your wish for everything be ok come true!
I've never heard of a "weather bomb". Wow, very scary and tragic. Stay safe!!
ReplyDeleteMe neither. But, as they say, there's always a first time.
DeleteJudging by the pictures and the descriptions in the media, it was indeed very scary.
I think that based on the scientific evidence available sudden weather events like this will become more common, and perhaps more devastating too.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I'm familiar with the latest scientific evidence, but my intuition tells me that the Halidiki event is probably the new pattern: sudden, no warning, no evacuation.
DeleteI wish I was wrong about that!
There was also a freak hailstorm in Mexico recently and flooding in Washington, DC.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I've heard about these events. In Mexico there were no casualties, and as for the flooding in Washington, I think there were warnings.
DeleteOur news covered the story as well as it is the most popular place for Serbian tourists. Greece often has those horrible natural disasters, remember those tragic fires from a year or two ago? They mostly left tourists to fend for themselves, quite shocking. I remember stories of our tourists who were left on burning beaches and Greek ships did not want to come near them and take them away. One thing I know, Duta, you and I would never live near water, volcanoes and other threatening places.
ReplyDeleteFires are not always natural disasters. Man's negligence has also something to do with that. And there's fire as a weapon of terrorism. We had some deliberately set fires as part of terror tactics.
DeleteI tend to agree with your concluding sentence. I have no intention to live near water or other threatening elements. It wouldn't be wise. The thing is that even as a short-term tourist, one might encounter danger as it happened to those in Halkidiki.
Nature is unpredictable, but sadly, I do believe this is a sign of what's to come.
ReplyDeleteTrue.
DeleteWe cannot change climate but we can find ways to protect ourselves from its ravagies, provided we're given time and warning. The Halidiki event might signal a new, more frightening pattern.
Oh my! I never think of hail as causing death. That's very frightening and tragic. Yes, I wonder about all these strange patterns in the climate and being due to how things are changing. I don't know how people can continue to deny it.
ReplyDeletePeople are not denying climate change but its link to pollution.
DeleteI believe pollution is bad and has to be dealt with (which will mean giving up cars, not only plastic bags), but I don't believe it has much impact on climate. The latest theory is that the sun is causing the changes.
You just never know what weather has in store. We made it through a horrific tornado through Louisville, KY in 1974, homes destroyed all around us. Hail is no fun either, and on and on. Weather bomb sounds horrible, especially when there is no warning. We have finally warmed up here in Chicago area, and had more than our share of rain so far. Take care, Duta!
ReplyDeleteGlad your Chicago area has warmed up. I know that people in many parts of the world, go through terrible weather conditions. What struck me in the Halidiki storm, is its unexpectedness, and severity.
DeleteWow, that sounds scary. Sad to hear that people got hurt and killed.
ReplyDeleteIt is. One goes out to have fun, and out of the blue gets a " weather bomb" and becomes a casualty.
DeleteYes, this very unusual weather event was featured in our news here in the UK.
ReplyDeleteThe weather worldwide seems to have been rather 'topsy turvey' in recent times, but we are usually pre-warned by weather forecasters about it, whereas the Halidiki incident was just so sudden. Quite scary.
All the best Jan
Exactly, sudden happening; the weather foreaters in Greece didn't know about the upcoming storm, and so no warning.
DeleteOh, no. Sounds so scary. We were in Greece earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteGreece (both mainland and islands) is a very popular touristic destination. Its economy greatly depends on that. An event such as that at Halidiki is not good for tourism.
DeleteThat is so scary, I wish things like this never happen!
ReplyDeleteYou wish well , Natalia. May God answer your wish, and protect us!
DeleteAs many others have commented, weather is unpredictable. We have been fortunate in escaping weather incidents, especially on our recent extended road trip. I was saddened to read about the destruction and loss of life from the "weather bomb."
ReplyDelete(Grenville wanted me to thank you for your well wishes on his birthday.)
You were indeed lucky to have good weather on your last big road trip. Usually, summer is not supposed to surprise us with severe weather events like the above one in the greek peninsula.
DeleteDuta, it seems to get hotter every year here in Alabama.
ReplyDeleteI know the US is dragging its feet on the kind of things that would help.
Climatic changes are felt in almost every part of the world. We have to learn how to deal with the threats and protect ourselves.
DeleteI'm not sure we can control climate, even if people give up their vehicles, and governments close industries. I believe it's the domain of a power beyond us. I call that power God, others call it the Universe or Superpower.
My brother just went to Greece Scary these extreme weather patterns and we will surely get more of it.
ReplyDeleteIt is getting here warmer as well We even had 19 degrees last week in the middle of winter.
May your brother have a great time in Greece! It's a lovely, and relatively cheap country!
DeleteHopefully, extreme weather will leave us and let us live normally.
It seems to me that the weather at this moment in time is the most capricious (therefore scariest) of all. Climate change, of course, has ALWAYS been a reality, and not some recent development, i.e. ice age... but yeah, how frightening, the weather. I live in the US eastern part of NC, and hurricanes here have been vicious, wreaking havoc on coastal areas and inland. I have to pray without ceasing when I hear of one approaching. I'm so sorry to hear this news from Halkidiky :-(
ReplyDeletePraying, is indeed the only thing we can do. If there's warning by weather forecasters - some sort of preparedness could be done to help protect people and property. In Halkidiki it was all vey sudden.
DeleteYou are so right. After 20 years with no earthquake felt, a 7.1 hit not too far away. Due to the strange weather that climate change has brought, I'm more concerned about fire here, where the weeds are tall due to more rain than normal and now drying out. Scary stuff, so one has to be vigilant.
ReplyDelete7.1 is quite strong! Haven't heard of casualties, so I guess Luck was there after all.
DeleteFires can be prevented in many cases, provided people are, as you say "vigilant".
It's sad Duta. the weather is unpredictable lately. Here, in Louisiana, we got hit by hurricane category 1, Hurricane Barry, in the early July, resulting the flood and power knocked down.
ReplyDeleteSad and Scary - The two S-words have become our dominant feelings during the last years. Power outage and flooding, unfortunately, very bad results of nasty weather!
DeleteThat certainly was a terrible incident Duta.
ReplyDeleteI feel for people who have their homes in those particularly vulnerable areas.
Another aspect of the climate anomalies that worry me is the everday changes to our trees and plants. They are confused and put out spurts of growth but at the wrong time, then shut down, only to spurt on again. Only some many reserves of energy.
I'm sure plants and trees, even animals are confused, just as we humans are confused and unhappy about climate anomaly. The daily changes you see in your garden are indeed worrying.
DeleteIt seems to get hotter every year here in The Netherlands. Our summers and winters keep getting warmer. But there is also some good news: our world leaders are taking note and try (!!) tot work together to make concrete strides to a more prosperous future.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it world leders could do much about climate, but hey, their gathering is still good news.
DeleteClimate Change is such an issue. I taught this before it was fashionable, and before we had it in the curriculum. I hope humans can make a difference.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it is. Well, I'm rather pesimistic about human abilities in this matter. We should focus on preparedness, alertness and adjustment.
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