After the last big flood in the Harz Mountains in Germany in 2017, I traced possible causes in Wernigerode, the “Colorful City in the Harz Mountains” (listen here). I found essentially the following:
- lack of coordination of authorities
- sealing of soil for construction purposes
- narrowing of water courses by piping in front of and in towns
- neglect of sustainable forestry
All factors that are 100% man-made – and would be quicker and easier to fix than the much-vaunted climate change. According to The Sunday Times, hydrologist Hannah Cloke, co-developer of the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS), said that a “monumental failure of the system” had led to one of postwar Germany’s deadliest natural disasters.