2023-09-04 00:01:00
The isolated depression at high levels (DANA), which kept a large part of the country on alert this Sunday due to the risk of torrential rains, caused flooding, people trapped in homes or vehicles, closed roads, interrupted train services and delays in some flights .
The Community of Madrid and Toledo were on red alert due to the heavy rains, while the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) activated the orange alert in Andalusia, Castilla y León, Catalonia and the Valencian Community. Finally, in the Community of Madrid, the Aemet raised the red alert late in the afternoon in the mountains and the metropolitan area and Henares, although it maintained it in the south and west due to rainfall that can reach 120 liters per meter square.
Also in the Valencian Community all warnings for precipitation ended, although there are still active alerts for gusts of wind from the east of 70 to 80 kilometers per hour and for maritime storms, with heavy seas and waves of 3 meters.
In Madrid, the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, asked Madrid residents this Sunday to remain in their homes “unless it was essential”, given the situation, which he described as “exceptional and abnormal”.
In addition, at noon, the 112 Security and Emergency Agency sent an alert message preceded by a screeching beep to the mobile phones that were in the community, reporting the situation and asking citizens not to leave their homes and avoid taking the private vehicle.
Likewise, all the large shopping centers in the Community of Madrid closed at 6:00 p.m., as well as numerous stores of the main clothing chains, and some shows on Madrid’s Gran Vía were also suspended, such as the musicals of El Rey León or Aladdin and film sessions.
roads closed
The abundant rainfall with storms that fell throughout the country -except the Canary Islands- coincided with the last day of the summer return operation, for which the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) made calls for prudence, although no significant traffic problems on main network roads. However, several routes of the secondary network were cut: in Tarragona, the C-12 in Tortosa, in Castellón, in Calig; in Toledo, on the N-400, in the capital, in Mocejón, Villacañas, Villarroeles and Villasequilla; in Seville, in El Acebuchal; and in Cádiz, in Torrecera.
In addition, the weather forced the suspension of the rail service in the Mediterranean Corridor from the different origins, so the trains diverted from Valencia and Alicante via Madrid to Barcelona and from Figueres (Girona) they also went via Madrid.
As reported by Renfe, given the weather situation, with torrential rains that caused flooding in several Spanish towns, travelers could cancel or change the ticket free of charge if they decided not to travel this Sunday.
The circulation of long and medium distance trains on the Madrid-Andalucía AVE line, which was interrupted between La Sagra and Yeles, in the province of Toledo, was restored at 7:00 p.m., although an average delay of about two hours. The interruption affected the AVE Málaga-Madrid (parked in La Sagra) and the Avant Madrid-Toledo.
Regarding airports, the day passed without delays in some flights, mainly at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, AENA has indicated. These delays were caused by regulations established by Air Traffic Control, which space out flights for safety reasons.
In the Valencian Community, the Port of Valencia has been partially closed since 3:48 p.m. on Sunday, which implied the prohibition of the entry of boats to the port, with the exception of ferries, according to the Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat. Also in this region there were rescues of people who had been trapped in their vehicles, and other incidents such as falling trees, fire outbreaks due to lightning or bilges were resolved.
In Catalonia, firefighters rescued 12 people, ten of them trapped in their vehicles in flooded areas, due to torrential rains in the Ebro Delta area, which also damaged 18 buildings, with no risk of collapse, and 13 infrastructures, such as walkways, roads and bridges. This was explained in statements to the media by the chief of intervention of the Fire Department, Inspector Oriol Corbella, who stressed that in this episode of rain, which has already subsided in the community, there were no personal injuries.
In Aragon, the DANA left streets flooded in the Zaragoza towns of Tauste, Gallur and Pedrola, where five people were isolated in two houses due to the havoc caused by the rains. In Castilla y León, the Ávila City Council decided to close the accesses to the rampart of the wall “for security reasons”, while the last bullfighting celebration of the Palencia fair was suspended and that of Valladolid was postponed.
In the Balearic Islands, the DANA caused 90 minor incidents, mainly trees and branches falling on buildings and vehicles, as well as people slightly injured when they were hit by objects blown by the wind, who were treated by the 112 emergency coordination center. The majority occurred in Mallorca, with 51 incidents, followed by the island of Ibiza, with 31 emergencies; Formentera, with five incidents; and Menorca, with three.
And in Extremadura, the city most affected by the storms was Mérida, where the firefighters from the Municipal Park could not cope with draining water and removing branches in different parts of the city.
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