Natural and human factors made French storm a killer

Remy de la Mauviniere and Elaine Ganley in the Boston Globe via the Associated Press: …After a wall of ocean water engulfed picturesque towns along France’s Atlantic coast, residents, officials, and specialists are all asking why. Was it due to climate change? A freak storm fueled by hurricane-force winds? The result of human greed over desirable land or bungling actions by government officials?

Many observers point to the thousands of miles of sea walls in France, many built too low, in severe disrepair, or reportedly dating from the era of Napoleon. They also cite the new houses cropping up behind them, tantalizingly close to the country’s poorly protected but much beloved shoreline.

Environmental groups say the storm should be a wake-up call about the danger of weak sea defenses, with scientists warning that climate change will bring even fiercer storms and rising seas in the years ahead. At least 52 people were killed when the storm named Xynthia swept through France’s southwestern coastal communities between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday, surprising victims in their sleep.

Most of the fatalities were on the French mainland, especially in two towns, L’Aiguillon-Sur-Mer and La Faute-Sur-Mer.

The sea walls in L’Aiguillon-Sur-Mer - the only barrier between the surging Atlantic Ocean and the sea-level land - crumbled and salty water gushed forth, ripping up trees and covering some homes...Others say human error clinched the disaster with chaotic urbanization in flood zones and a failure to maintain the country’s aging sea walls….

An extratropical cyclone named Xynthia brought hurricane-force winds and high waves to Western Europe at the end of February 2010, CNN reported. Winds as fast as 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour reached as far inland as Paris, and at the storm’s peak, hurricane-force winds extended from Portugal to the Netherlands. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of Western Europe, acquired in two separate overpasses on February 27, 2010