spate die Flut, das Hochwasser
steht bereits in Leo. Damit ist der Vorschlag relativ einfach aus vorhandenen Woertern zusammenzusetzen. Ausserdem ist m.E. "eine Flut von" etwas ausdrucksvoller als "eine Reihe von"

A spate of bankruptcies isn't really a flood of them (even though in other contexts 'spate' is related to 'flood'), it's just a bunch of them occurring in quick sequence, with the impression that it's statistically unusual, or not part of a trend and thus expected to revert back to normal. A spate also applies to single events in series, so you can't say, for example, *a spate of warm weather (there are attestations for it, imho they are mistaken).

If the events keep on coming at the same fast rate for some time, then spate would no longer be the correct word anymore.

agree with Peter. An unexpected occurrence of several 'things' in quick succession is not necessarily flood-like. Is there any other word in German (other than Flut)?

Da würde man im Deutschen doch den Vorschlag von w oder eine Variante davon nehmen ('eine Reihe/Folge/Serie/Kette von ...'), auch wenn dadurch etwas Dramatik verloren geht. 'Ausbruch' wie bei Krankheiten oder Vulkanen würde man im Deutschen im Zusammenhang mit Konkursen wohl nicht verwenden.

if it helps:

Definition: [n] the occurrence of a water flow resulting from sudden rain or melting snow
[n] a sudden forceful flow
[n] (often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent; "a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "it must have cost plenty"


Synonyms: batch, deal, flock, freshet, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mess, mickle, mint, muckle, peck, pile, plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, rush, sight, slew, stack, surge, tidy sum, upsurge, wad, whole lot, whole slew

perhaps the term "Häufung" meets the bill?

Actually, in German it would be "eine Welle von Konkursen" or simply a "Konkurswelle" - definitely not a flood.

Harper Collins German Unabridged Dictionary:
spate n (of river) Hochwasser nt; (fig.) (of letters, orders, etc) Flut f; (of burglaries, accidents) Serie f; (of words, abuse) Schwall

Oxford Duden German Dictionary:
spate n. (
[A] (flood) the river / waterfall is in [full] ~: der Fluss / Wasserfall führt Hochwasser
(fig.: large amount) a ~ of s.th. eine Flut von etw.; a ~ of burglaries eine Einbruchsserie

Langenscheidt, Der Große Muret-Sanders:
spate s
1. Br. Überschwemmung f, Hochwasser n
2. Br. Wolkenbruch
3. fig (Wort)Schwall m, Flut f, Erguß m

Cassell's German Dictionary:
spate, s 1. die Überschwemmung, Überflutung, das Hochwasser; 2. (fig.) die Flut, der Erguß; - of talk, der Wortschwall

More support for "Schwall" from an additional dictionary.