Infrastructure upgrade urged after floods
By JONATHAN POWELL in London |
China Daily |
Updated: 2021-07-21 07:33
A woman on Monday takes in the devastation left by the flooding in Liege, Belgium. The country held a day of mourning on Tuesday for the victims of the disaster. VALENTIN BIANCHI/AP
Climate scientists and political leaders are calling for urgency in building stronger infrastructure to prevent the kind of destruction caused by floods that washed over parts of Europe last week.
Torrents swept through western and southern Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, destroying buildings and bridges and leaving around 200 people dead.
"We need to build new infrastructure-containment basins, dykes, riverside overflow drainage areas-and strengthen sewerage systems, dams and barriers," said Lamia Messari-Becker, a professor teaching building technology and construction physics at the University of Siegen in Germany.