MADRID – The heavy rainfall resulting from the last DANA (high air layer isolated depression) put half of Spain on edge. This was during the early part of yesterday. Andalucia, Extremadura, and the Balearic Islands were particularly affected.
The rain and sometimes hail led to hundreds of incidents and countless evacuations. In the Andalucian province of Huelva, the severe weather prompted the weather institute Aemet to issue code red. This is the maximum alarm level. Furthermore, the province was also hit by rains of up to 60 litres per square metre in one hour. Moreover, in Seville, code orange was applied because of 40 litres of precipitation at the same time.
Spain on edge
The coast of Huelva has been hardest hit with flooding in municipalities such as Ayamonte, Isla Cristina, La Redondela, Lepe or Cartaya, but also some of the Campo de Andévalo, such as Paymogo, and the metropolitan area, such as Aljaraque. Up to eight educational institutions in the municipalities of Lepe, Cartaya, Ayamonte and Isla Cristina had to be evacuated as a result of the flooding, which caused more than 800 incidents on the west coast alone.
Flood damage
Ending the assessment of the damage in the latter area, the Junta de Andalucía announced on Thursday it will allocate €150,000. This is to repair the damage caused by the floods earlier this week in Cuevas del Campo (Granada). In the province of Granada, the following municipalities will also receive support to deal with the damage from recent storms.
- Chauchina
- Lanjarón
- Atarfe
- Alhendín
- Puebla de Don Fadrique
In the case of Extremadura, with an orange warning signal, the south of Badajoz province has been most affected. There, 30 litres fell in an hour in the Guadiana Valley, Tierra de Barros, La Serena and the south of the city of Badajoz. While in Cáceres the code was yellow and 15 litres fell per m2.
The cloudburst scenario is repeating itself here. There are many buildings flooded, blocked streets and highways. Also, trains are subject to failures due to damage to infrastructure. And classes are suspended due to material damage in the educational centres. Including the collapse of a school roof in Mérida, or simply due to the impossibility of reaching them.
DANA heads west
At the moment, DANA continues its journey to the west but leaves behind important discharges of water, such as the more than 88 litres in Zafra, the approximately 82 in Mérida, the more than 66 in Almendralejo or the more than 58 in Puebla de Obando, in addition to 300 other incidents.
Code orange continues to apply on the Balearic Islands due to heavy rainfall in the southeast. Particularly on Palma de Mallorca, where several daily rainfall records for September have already been recorded. For example, last Monday’s rains in Muro reached 123 litres per square metre – an amount not seen in 51 years – and 137 litres in Santanyí – unrivalled in 36 years and 132 litres in Alqueria Blanca (last time such an amount was 70 years ago).
Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, the Madrid and Valencia Communities remained on code yellow, with rains of between 15 and 30 litres per square metre in one hour at various points.
New storms in Galicia
Today, Friday, the yellow weather alert will apply for new storms in Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, the Madrid region, Navarra and the Valencia region.
The State Meteorological Agents
Weather Institute Aemet recalls that with code orange there is a significant risk, with some degree of danger to usual daily activities, while with the yellow weather alert there is no risk to the general population but only to certain activities.
