FELANITX – Heavy rainshowers caused major flooding in Mallorca on Friday. The Spanish weather institute Aemet had already warned about this with code orange.
A cloudburst occurred over Felanitx between two and three o’clock in the afternoon. Almost 175 litres per square meter fell here in an hour. The streets in the village turned into rivers in no time because the sewer network could no longer handle so much water.
September 16, 2022
🇪🇦 #spain | heavy Rains caused Flash Floods in Felanitx Majorca#Majorca #lluvias #felanotx #Balearic #banjir pic.twitter.com/nWYmU0sBnH— CLIMATE Change 🌪️🌋❄️ (@weatheralert15) September 16, 2022
So far, there have been no reports of personal injury, except for one woman who suffered minor injuries. A local police officer confirms in NIUS.es that, for the amount of rain that has fallen in such a short time, it is astonishing that no serious accidents have occurred.
The material damage is enormous. Emergency services teams are still at work and the fire brigade can hardly keep up with the number of requests for help. “It mainly concerns flooding in buildings and on public roads. There are 15 firefighters with 5 vehicles working from the services in Felanitx, Manacor, Llucmajor and Inca,” reads the fire brigade’s Twitter account at Majorca.
The storm broke out at the beginning of the afternoon and in addition to the water that was already falling in the village came the water that flowed down from Sant Salvador and Cas Concos. As a result, all the streets in the village were flooded. In the course of the afternoon, the rain showers moved towards the sea and became less intense.
To prevent accidents, the Mallorcan government has decided to keep roads MA-4010 Manacor-Portocolom and MA-5100 Felanitx Porreres closed to traffic.
Images of the flooding can be seen here and here and here on Twitter.
800 lightning flashes
In addition to a large amount of rain, the thunderstorms were very violent. The regional weather institute registered as many as 800 lightning flashes over the island. Especially above Felanitx, Porreres and between Inca and Lluc. That in itself is not something exceptional in September. The warm sea and the low atmosphere full of humidity often cause a lot of rain and thunderstorms in Mallorca in this month. During these last two weeks, there have already been two severe storms with electrical discharges of more than 300 lightning strikes.
