MADRID – Severe weather in Spain on Sunday and Monday has so far claimed the lives of two men in the province of Toledo and three people have gone missing in Madrid and Toledo.
A 20-year-old man died in an elevator in Casarrubios del Monte and another on the A-40, in the municipality of Bargas. A 10-year-old boy has been rescued after the car he was travelling in with his family fell into the Alberche River near Aldea del Fresno in Madrid. His father is still missing. Also missing is a 54-year-old woman who was driving a Seat Altea on the CM-4004 in Valmojado (Toledo), as well as an 83-year-old man who was swept away by the current in Villamanta (Madrid).
Crisis centre: More than 1200 incidents
The heavy rain mainly affected Madrid and Toledo. Code red had been issued for the area. The Comunidad de Madrid’s 112 emergency centre had recorded 1,257 incidents as of 1.30 am. Hereunder, “numerous rescues” of people from houses, some even from their roofs, and vehicles. According to data from the Spanish weather agency (Aemet), Toledo recorded 91.2 litres per square metre of precipitation during Sunday.
Air traffic and other regions
Air traffic was normal on Monday morning, despite some problems on Sunday at the airports of Santander, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid. These disruptions were due to heavy rain and wind, leading to cancellations and diversions of several flights, according to Aena.
Large amounts of rain have also fallen in other parts of Spain. The meteorological stations of San José del Valle (Cádiz) with 172.2 l/m2, San Rafael (Segovia) with 147.8 l/m2 and Tortosa-Roquetes (Tarragona) with 117.2 l/m2 recorded the highest rainfall in Spain on Sunday with respectively.
The municipality of Cebreros (Ávila) was also surprised by heavy rainfall, recording 96 litres per square metre, while Toledo received 91.8 litres per square metre on Sunday during the day.
On Monday morning, the most precipitation fell in the Madrid region with an amount collected of more than 56 litres per square metre in Colmenar Viejo; 47.1 litres at the El Retiro meteorological station and 45.2 litres in Ciudad Universitaria until 9.10 am.
Outlook
A decrease in precipitation is expected for today, but Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha remain under a yellow weather alert. A heavy downpour last night means the Comunidad de Madrid now leads the list for total rainfall across Spain, with more than 56 litres per square metre collected in Colmenar Viejo.
Two bridges collapsed
Two bridges in Aldea del Fresno collapsed due to the storm surge. The Alberche River has flooded and the fast-flowing mass of water swept away the bridges. It is a similar situation due to the water flows caused by storms occurred in cities such as Villar del Prado or Villamanta.
Disaster area
The President of the Madrid Region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso will request that the southwestern municipalities affected by DANA be declared disaster areas. These are Aldea del Fresno, Villamanta, Villamantilla, Villanueva de Perales, El Álamo and Navalcarnero.
The same goes for the President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page. According to García-Page, clean-up and recovery activities will take all week, but he hopes the disaster declaration will speed up various procedures.
In addition, to help compensate for the damage, its administration proposes “to the European Union” that the region “as a sea-affected area” can benefit from the “relief and solidarity funds” that Europe has available for these types of cases.