While the Valencian municipalities continue working on the damage that DANA left on October 29, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) once again activated the red alert this Wednesday due to the extreme risk of heavy rain on the coast of Valencia. At the close of this edition, Aemet warned that the moment of adversity would be at dawn, although this time, it maintained, the largest accumulations would occur on the coast and not so much in the interior of the province.
The Aemet warned that the danger is “extreme” and of the possibility of river overflows and flooding, which is why it called for extreme caution and to avoid travel. In fact, the Civil Protection Emergency Coordination Center (Cecopi) agreed to restrict mobility to private vehicles in certain municipalities. For its part, Adif interrupted the train between Barcelona and Valencia. In addition, Minister Óscar Puente reported that the reopening of the Madrid-Valencia trains was suspended, which was going to be this morning, until the alert ends. The suspension of classes in the city of Valencia also extends to today.
But the red alert was extended yesterday to the south of the province of Tarragona and to Malaga, the latter also until this morning. And DANA already unleashed chaos in the Andalusian city yesterday. Schools suspended, health centers closed and hospitals, such as the Clinic, which, after being flooded in some of its areas, began to only attend to emergencies in its facilities. The water flooded the capital. The Guadalmendia River, which crosses the heart of Malaga, brushed against the bridges, from where the most daring took out their cell phones to record the moment. The alleys of Perchel, Corte Inglés and the center were a huge swamp. And all this flow had consequences with mobility and all services.
In the Campanillas neighborhood, David Muñoz watched attentively as the street descended into a small stream and unleashed chaos. “I’m looking at how the sewers are swallowing,” he told ABC from inside the living room of his house. The same room that four years ago was filled with mud in another flood. «That day the water came in and I even lost the car. Now we are ready. We climb to the upper floors if it enters the water. There we have everything to live,” he stated.
Minutes before, the Police had gone over the loudspeaker telling residents to proceed to evacuate their homes due to the high risk of flooding. Many listened and left, but others like Esther Espinosa decided that she was not going anywhere, that she was staying in her home. «I don’t think it will reach the second floor. I have food and everything upstairs. I don’t have to go. “I’m sure, but seeing the police scared me,” this neighbor recalled with water running down her shin in the middle of the street, where the heavy machinery wanted to make a small barricade to the Campanillas River to prevent it from overflowing in the orchard area. .
Campanillas was the last area evacuated, after 3,000 residents from the entire banks of the Guadalhorce River had to leave their homes the night before. They went to second homes, with relatives or to hotels. Only 28 from Santa Águeda in Málaga and Las Castañetas went to the Tiropichón pavilion in the capital and two spent the night in El Limón in Alhaurín de la Torre. The displaced people from Campanillas were also housed in the capital’s sports center, where the slaughterhouse sent all the workers home. In the afternoon, the City Council relocated the displaced people to hotels and left the sports center for possible new evictions.
No trains
The red alert advised not to travel and the first to check it were the users of the train networks. The María Zambrano station had to be evacuated, as did the Vialia shopping center. All connections by AVE were suspended, as well as those by Media Distancia, Cercanías and the Metro closed. There was no rail service. Hundreds of travelers were trapped at the airport. The metro and the Cercanías train did not operate, as well as the EMT buses. Most taxis stopped providing service and the few that did so suffered consequences.
There were more than 500 incidents throughout the province and the region of La Axarquía became ‘ground zero’ of this DANA. Flooding in garages, commercial premises and ground-floor homes, overflowing streams and rivers, blocked roads and large pools of water in the streets were some of the consequences, especially in the afternoon, where the first big scare came from the river. Benamargosa, which overflowed and flooded the town that bears its name. “From the Benamargosa City Council, we recommend that you stay in your homes,” the council communicated to the neighbors due to the serious risk posed by the river leaving its channel. Previously, flooding had already been recorded in Vélez-Málaga. The flood swept away several cars and heavy machinery that were next to the riverbed. In Cútar there were problems with the water and electricity supply and several residents of the rural areas were left without communication.
The Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, joined the device of the 112 Andalusia Emergency Coordination Center in Malaga in the face of the serious situation that is occurring in Malaga capital, in Axarquía and in Guadalhorce due to the heavy rains.
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