3 lifeless, 3 lacking as torrential rains lash Spain

At least three folks died and one other three had been lacking on Monday after heavy rains lashed drought-hit Spain, triggering flash floods that closed Madrid metro strains and high-speed rail hyperlinks.

The weekend storm affected nearly the entire nation, with the heaviest rains recorded on Sunday within the coastal provinces of Cadiz, Tarragona and Castello, in line with state climate workplace Aemet.

Two folks died within the central province of Toledo on account of the storm, the top of the regional authorities of Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano Garcia-Page, mentioned, with out giving particulars.

Spanish media mentioned a person was discovered lifeless by police throughout a rescue try on a highway close to the city of Bargas whereas one other man died as rescuers tried to achieve him within the city of Casarrubios del Monte.

Police introduced on Monday afternoon that the physique of a person in his 50s was discovered close to a river within the city of Camarena, additionally within the province of Toledo.

Emergency providers had been searching for a person who went lacking after his automotive was swept away early on Monday by a swollen river within the rural space of Aldea del Fresno west of Madrid, a spokesman from Madrid’s emergency providers, Javier Chivite, instructed public tv RTVE.

Firefighters discovered his 10-year-old son — who was additionally within the automotive and was initially reported as lacking — on Monday on prime of a tree, he added.

Emergency providers had rescued the boy’s mom and sister earlier within the day.

“The poor boy spent the night perched in a tree,” the top of the regional authorities of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, instructed reporters.

The household, who reside within the Madrid suburb of Alcorcon, had been staying at a vacation residence they personal in Aldea del Fresno when the storm hit. They took to the highway as a result of they turned alarmed by the flash flooding, she added.

Several bridges collapsed in Aldea del Fresno and torrents of water swept away many vehicles, in line with an AFP reporter on the scene.

Police had been additionally searching for an 83-year-old man who was swept away by floodwaters within the neighbouring city of Villamanta, in addition to for a girl who went lacking within the city of Valmojado in Toledo, native emergency providers mentioned.

A helicopter was deployed to rescue individuals who sought security on the roofs of their houses in Toledo.

‘Behave with warning’

On Sunday residents of the Madrid area obtained an emergency textual content in Spanish and English accompanied by a loud alarm urging them to not use their automobiles and keep at residence due the “extreme risk of storms”.

It was the primary time the authorities had used this cell phone alert system.

Several theatres closed early on Sunday, and the day’s soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla was suspended.

A lot of metro strains had been closed in Madrid throughout the morning rush hour on Monday as a consequence of flooding attributable to heavy in a single day rains, though by the mid-afternoon they had been all open once more.

High-speed rail hyperlinks between Madrid and the southwestern area of Andalusia and the east coast area of Valencia, which closed on Sunday, reopened on Monday though trains had been working at slower speeds in some sections, railway operator Renfe mentioned.

The heavy rainfall eased on Monday morning. Aemet lowered its alert degree for the Madrid area to yellow from a most purple alert on Sunday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez thanked emergency providers for his or her work and urged folks to “continue to behave with caution”.

The torrential climate comes after Spain — which has endured three years of scant rainfall that has prompted some areas to impose water use restrictions — endured an intense heatwave and chronic excessive temperatures in August.

Scientists warn that excessive climate akin to heatwaves and storms is turning into extra intense on account of local weather change.

Published On:

Sep 5, 2023