PROVINCIA DE TERUEL – It had already been predicted, but farmers in the Spanish province of Teruel had not expected the hail storms to become so violent on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Some Spanish media speak of hail stones as big as golf balls. But other newspapers, including Diariodeibiza.es and Niusdiario.es, post a picture of hail stones as big as footballs. These appear to be years old, however, and not taken in Spain. The maximum size to check on social media is that of rocks the size of golf balls. It is certain that the hail stones in the vicinity of Calanda and Andorra (Teruel) caused a lot of material damage and destroyed the peach crop. There were also floods in Calanda and Andorra.
Disaster area
The municipality of Calanda is considering asking the national government to be declared a disaster area, with additional relief measures. It is extra sad that the crops barely survived the frost of last April. According to the agricultural association in the province, between 80% to 90% of the harvest has now been permanently lost.
The mayor of Calanda, Alberto Herrero, noted that his municipality is “purely agricultural” and that the peach of Calanda is the main crop with even a protected designation of origin. In addition, there are many olive and almond trees. However, they are all damaged, as is the grain crop (wheat and barley).
Material damage
Not only crops have been damaged, but also various municipal infrastructures have been affected. Tiles are broken, and roof tiles and gutters are damaged. Furthermore, many residents also report damage to their cars. Consequently, officials are still working on an overview of the financial damage.
“It’s been a fateful year, I don’t remember a year as drastic as this year”, in which the main economic sector of the municipality will suffer “great losses”. We also have to take into account the increase in costs as a result of price increases,” said the upset mayor in nius.es.
The hail storm with remarkably large stones took place just before 5.30 pm on Tuesday, followed by another hail on Wednesday. This also damaged the trees that had survived the first shower.
Significant damage
In the nearby municipality of Andorra, from 4.00 pm, the streets were filled with a fast-flowing thick white blanket in just 25 minutes. Mayor Antonio Amador said the damage will be “significant” but it was too early to quantify it.
The town hall of Teruel activated the emergency system and sent officers from the Guardia Civil, Local Police, and Civil Defense to clean the streets and assist residents.
Hail in Madrid
Residents of Madrid were also surprised when the hail came from the sky in the middle of summer. Many people shared images on social media of large hail stones. An iconic street like Madrid’s Gran Vía was white with “chickpea size” hailstones at 3.30 pm.on Wednesday.
People had to take shelter in bus or subway shelters until the storm passed and the street was safe again.
Also see:
https://twitter.com/aragontv/status/1544970217713025024
