Malaga flooding latest: Severe rain alerts as homes ‘decimated’ after month’s worth of rainfall hits in hours
Thousands evacuated in Malaga as powerful storm hits Spain just weeks after deadly flash floods
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Your support makes all the difference.Severe weather alerts have been issued and thousands evacuated as a powerful storm brings a month’s worth of rain and high winds to Spain just weeks after deadly flash floods hit the country.
While a red alert in Valencia was lifted on Thursday morning after more than 100mm of rain fell in some areas, warnings remained in place. Dozens of emergency callouts were reported overnight, mostly in areas worst-hit by the previous floods, which killed more than 200 people.
Although the fresh rains appear to have brought limited damage, in the Malaga province, homes were “decimated” by flooding after a river burst its banks on Wednesday in the town of Benamargosa, as around 3,000 people living along the Guadalhorce River and reportedly a further 1,100 near the Vélez River were evacuated.
The city of Malaga’s main hospital was forced to limit services to emergencies only after becoming flooded.
The Costa del Sol, including popular tourist destinations like Marbella, Estepona, and Vélez, is bearing the brunt of the extreme weather phenomenon known as a “Dana”.
Pictured: Residents in Malaga village clear streets after river burst its banks
Here are some of the latest pictures from Benamargosa, where residents described houses being “decimated” after the river running through the centre of the village burst its banks yesterday.
Mapped: Where are current weather alerts in force?
Here is the latest map showing the weather alerts issued by Spain’s national forecaster Aemet.
On the east coast, Valencia remains subject to an orange alert, with up to 100mm of rain forecast in the space of 12 hours. In the west, organge alerts are also in force in Huelva, Andévalo and Condado, Aracena, Seville, Cadiz, Narrow and Grazalema.
Lesser yellow warnings are also in force further north in Avila, southern Salamanca and northern Caceres, as well as along the coastlines of Granada and Almeria, and inland at Murcia, Alcaraz and Segura. The northwest coastline, above Portugal, is also subject to alerts over gale-force winds.
Homes ‘decimated’ in Malaga village after river bursts its banks
An expat living in a town in Malaga has described homes and businesses being “decimated” after the river running through its centre burst its banks.
Andrew Poole, who lives in Benamargosa, said: “We’re about 40 minutes away from Malaga in a little village. Normally the river that flows through is dry, it’s actually used as the local car park.
“We got an alert on our phone on the evening before the storms hit, a red alert for the whole area, and then the waters started to come down and it didn’t stop. And then it got worse, and the water levels just started to rise.
“At teatime yesterday, the river itself burst its banks right in the heart of the village ... the emergency services, the locals, everyone’s pulling together, working all the way through the night just trying to clear some of the roads in and out so people who have been trapped by the floodwaters, the emergency services can get in to see them.
“Everyone’s houses, businesses [have been] fully decimated. It’s just so sad.”
He added: “We’ve been really lucky here. I think without the red warning there would have been a lot more casualties. As far as I’m aware, I don’t think there has been any here. We were fully prepped to stay indoors and stay away from the floodwaters.”
Warning issued over three-metre waves
Warnings have been issued along the coastlines of Granada and Almeria over the potential for waves to reach two to three metres high.
The alerts by Spanish forecaster Aemet, which are in force until midnight, also warn that winds speeds could reach 60km per hour.
Valencia emergency line receives 100 calls overnight
The Spanish emergency line 112 received 100 calls in Valencia overnight and handled 80 incidents, El Pais reports.
Most incidents were in the Camp del Turia and Horta Sud areas, which were heavily affected by the floods a fortnight ago and where an intensive clean-up operation is still under way.
Red weather alerts lifted in Valencia
Red weather alerts have been lifted in Valencia after initially coming into force at 6pm on Wednesday.
National forecaster Aemet said: “The worst of this second storm has passed.
“We have lowered the warning to orange on the coast of Valencia and raised it to orange on the northern coast of Alicante, where it is now raining heavily on the beaches of Dénia.”
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