BENICASSIM – The regional government of Valencia has activated emergency 1 in Benicàssim (Castellón) after a waterspout that left 150 litres of water per m2 in an hour on Sunday. Streets and houses were flooded.
The waterspout surprised the inhabitants of Benicàssim on the Spanish east coast. Consequently, countless houses, garages, and basements were flooded. Furthermore, several people were trapped in their flooded homes and had to be rescued. Also, the N-340 near Castellón de la Plana also had to be closed from kilometre 982 to 990.
Trapped in their flooded homes
Faced with the incidents, the provincial fire service mobilised five crews, three forest firefighting units from the regional government, and one unit from the UML. However, they mainly rescued people trapped in their flooded homes. They also opened water drains and rescued vehicles that drifted away. As a result, at least 20 incidents were reported to emergency number 112.
Severe weather
Furthermore, severe weather has also erupted in towns near Benicàssim such as Oropesa (62.8 l/m2) and Castelló de la Plana (21.6 l/m2). This was according to data from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), Avamet and the ‘112 CV’, collected by Europa Press.
Video footage on twitter from @MeteoGib
#Benicàssim (Castellón) experienced severe flooding yesterday, 29/08 – with 150mm of rain reported to have fallen in around an hour.
https://t.co/0uJIESknz2— MeteoGib (@MeteoGib) August 30, 2021
However, after 11 am, the rain stopped and the situation had returned to normal.
The weather institute Aemet had already warned of the possibility of very local severe weather in the northern half of the coast from morning. And in the rest of Castellón to the north of the province of Alicante.
