Until nine o’clock last night, the Emergency Coordination Center had received a total of 233 calls alerting about nearly two hundred issues (181) related to the strong wind and coastal phenomena throughout the Region. A good part of these emergencies occurred between two and three in the afternoon, when the peak of alert calls occurred. The issues were related to obstacles on the road (83) and landslides (60), and Murcia was the most affected municipality, with a total of 50 incidents, followed by Lorca (25) and Cehegín (14).
The storm was also especially noticeable in Cartagena, with 14 emergencies, where the strong southwesterly winds mainly affected maritime activity. Two cruise ships that had planned to stop early in the morning at the Juan Sebastián Elcano dock, with 2,700 passengers, suspended their visits due to weather warnings. At noon, the pilotage service was interrupted in the two docks, where around twenty large merchant ships, some of them dedicated to the transport of dangerous goods, were sheltered from the gale. Another ten remained in the anchorages in front of the city, sheltered by Cape Tiñoso. Wind gusts of more than 70 kilometers per hour raised waves of four meters in the vicinity of the port of Cartagena, where the fishing fleet did not go out to fish either as a result of the poor state of the sea.
Regarding the incidents in the rest of the port city, the City Council delimited wooded areas and closed access to some park areas in anticipation of large branches falling onto public roads. The strong gusts of winds knocked down poles and traffic signs, as well as advertising billboards in various parts of the municipality. The Cartagena City Council asked citizens not to go near breakwaters or docks. Also, they should not leave their vehicles next to walls or under large trees.
On the other hand, shortly before one in the afternoon, an accident occurred in the race that connects Yecla with Pinoso, with two cars involved. In the accident, apparently caused by poor visibility due to the large amount of dirt and dust raised by the strong wind, four people were injured. One of them, a 23-year-old woman, was trapped inside one of the vehicles and had to be freed by firefighters. All the injured were transferred to the Virgen del Castillo de Yecla Hospital.
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In addition, the wind caused numerous incidents in Cieza, where the strong gusts caused large tree branches to fall on La Estación Avenue, Juan XXIII, Santiago Street and Abarán Highway, among other areas. A large pine tree also fell off at the Tennis Club and another large branch fell in the Plaza de España, causing no personal injury.
The weather vane did not hold
Incidents were also recorded in Caravaca de la Cruz, where the wind tore off the weather vane of the Torre de los Pastores, in the church of La Concepción. The weather vane was in a poor state of conservation, which made it easy for the shaft to break and fall in the middle of Corredera Street. There were no injuries, but a good scare.
The Northwest and the Altiplano remain on yellow alert today
The storm ‘Ciarán’ keeps the regions of the Altiplano and the Northwest on yellow alert this Friday (until 2:00 p.m.), since the Aemet predicts “very strong gusts of wind towards the end of the day” in these and other areas of the region. In addition, the strong gusts of wind have meant that different territories in the Region remain at very high or extreme risk of forest fire this Friday, according to the Aemet forecast.
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