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”.
Mapped: Where are severe weather alerts in force in Spain as thousands evacuated from floods?
Mapped: Where are severe weather alerts in force in Spain?
Residents have reported ‘decimated’ homes after a month’s worth of rainfall fell in some areas
Finals of Billie Jean King tennis tournament in Malaga cancelled due to heavy rain
The finals of the Billie Jean King tennis tournament in Malaga were cancelled due to the heavy rain.
Pictures show the rain soaked venue, the Martín Carpena pavilion, on Wednesday, with the event postponed to Friday.
Watch: Heavy rain hits Valencia while region still recovering from recent floods
Non-essential activities cancelled and citizens told to work from home
Many municipalities in flood-hit areas have cancelled all non-essential activities, and told citizens to work from home and follow emergency services' updates.
Volunteers have also been asked to suspend clean-up operations and piling up sandbags for extra protection following the devastation of the extreme weather that hit Spain two weeks ago.
The coming storms also obliged the suspension of rescue efforts by teams still searching for missing people off the coast of Valencia, Spain's maritime rescue service said.
Impact of rain in hard-hit Valencia could be severe, warns local official
The impact of the rain could be severe in Valencia after the region was hit hardest by the extreme weather that lashed Spain two weeks ago, a spokesperson for its emergency committee has warned.
Rosa Tauris told reporters on Tuesday this is because of the significant quantities of mud already on the ground and because of the condition of the sewage system in the province.
Watch: Torrential rain in Spainish village Benidoleig
New storms and flooding in Spain close schools and cause train cancellations
New storms in Spain caused school closures and train cancellations on Wednesday, two weeks after flash floods in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 220 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
In southern Malaga province, streets were flooded, while 3,000 people near the Guadalhorce river were moved from their homes as a preventive measure. Schools across the province were closed, along with many stores. Trains traveling between Malaga and Madrid on the high-speed AVE rail line were cancelled.
There were no reports of any deaths.
Read more here:
New storms and flooding in Spain close schools and cause train cancellations
New storms in Spain have caused school closures and train cancellations two weeks after flash floods in Valencia and other areas killed more than 220 people and destroyed thousands of homes
Residents concerned as workers build barrier to try to contain water in Malaga
Workers were earlier building a plastic barrier in Malaga to try to contain the water that sewers could no longer take.
In the area’s Campanilla district near to a tributary of the Guadalhorce River, resident Miguel Espinosa said: “People are very worried because five years ago the river rose almost one metre above street level. The walls of the school collapsed. Residents' houses were flooded, their basements ... it was a real disaster.”
Watch: Thousands evacuate as torrential rain hits Malaga
Spanish labour minister urges people to not go to work in areas on red alert
The Spanish labour minister has urged people to not go to work in areas that are on a red alert due to the risks posed by the extreme weather.
Yolanda Díaz, who is also the second vice president of the government, said: “We are on red alert and, therefore, you do not have to take risks, you must not go to work.”
Aemet, the Spanish weather agency, has issued red weather warnings for areas of Malaga and Tarragona due to the torrential rain.
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