ALBACETE.- The shocking images of the center of Letur crossed by a torrent that swept away everything in its path, leaving considerable material damage, at least one dead and several missinghave gone viral in the last few hours, although the problem that this municipality in the Sierra del Segura is experiencing is not new. Its geological origin, urban planning and some lack of foresight have meant that the cocktail has had dramatic consequences this time.
Thus, on this occasion, the heavy rains brought by the DANA, leading to the overflowing of the stream that embraces this Albacete municipality, have revealed the seriousness of the consequences of this situation which, despite the actions carried out some time ago, have not served to solve the problem.
A recurring issue on which they have focused since the Platform in Defense of the Sources of the Segura and Mundo riverscreated in 2007 as a result of the installation of some drought wells in the region of the Sierra del Segura and Campos de Hellín, and made up of a dozen groups from the area.
And, they explain from the Platform, when one looks at the typical postcard photo of Letur, with its urban center nestled on top of a rock, immersed in a nature with which it seems to establish a dialogue, it seems impossible that it could have flood problems.
Tremendous images that come to us from Letur!
But this is not a new problem, but a recurring problem (although this time especially serious).
So it’s time to open a thread and explain what happened pic.twitter.com/0rX2zWfNCE— Platform in Defense of Sources (@Defensa_Fuentes) October 29, 2024
However, you have them and they are not new. This is because the rock on which it stands is not a monolithic rock, but a tuff castle. The rock has been growing due to the lime deposited by the water when that entire area was a large lake. Water, they explain from the Platform in Defense of the Fountains, was provided by the Letur stream, which even today passes “brushing” the old town.
A stream that originates very close to Letur, in sources that have allowed the existence of a magnificent orchard. However, they point out, above this birth there is a boulevard, whose drainage basin is “enormous”spanning from the Sierra del Zacatín, on the border with Moratalla.
The problem thus lies in the fact that although in this picturesque Albacete municipality the rainfall has not been excessively heavy, at the head of the basin there were up to 240 liters. This caused the flood to fully occupy the flood space available to it, something – they point out – that “the size of the channel already warned that it could happen”.
Something that upon reaching the urban area of Letur becomes a big problem, since The stream goes from a natural channel to a concrete channel“beautified” with transversal barriers that create a succession of pools, with the aim of showing that it has more water.
A channeling that “is to be seen,” they denounce from the Platform, due to the “cost” of stabilizing the slopes to maintain the road and San Antón Street. Added to this is the role of pools created along the riverbedwhich reduces hydraulic capacity.
The role of the swimming pools has been key in one of the points of the layout, causing the overflow to become “dramatic”. And, as can be seen in the videos circulating on social networks, the pool raises the water and makes it overflow over the wall. Thus, the torrent jumps to San Antón Street, but they are the walls and the street itself that prevent the water from returning to its channelthus taking the road to the old town.
However, they emphasize from the Platform in Defense of the Fountains, on its own this overflow would not be so dramatic, since the stream “did not always turn to the right.” And, they point out, “in geologically close times, it also did so to the left, and with extraordinary floods it would continue to be a natural outlet for excess flow“.
In this way, having been the alternative drainage route occupied by constructionthe water follows the path of Moreras Street, entering right in the old town by Letur.
Once there, there are two possible outlets for the water, one with a small flow that returns to the stream through the mills and another, which carries most of the water, which heads along Barranco Street towards the viewpoint, a place where All the vehicles dragged by the current as it passes through the town have accumulated.
Place name, Barranco Street, to which the Platform in Defense of the Fountains draws attention, from which they also point out that it is a third way of drainage from Las Canales, although “naturally it would be rarer”, only in situations of exceptional floods.
A context in which they have a clear answer to the question of whether everything that happened in the last few hours was foreseeable. “Well yes, it was foreseeable,” they admit, given that it is not the first time it has happened and that the area has been studied for the purposes of flood risk.
In this sense, the Platform emphasizes that the problem lies in the design of the canal, the bridge and the streets, something “well known” and despite this “it has not been solved in decades.”
AN OPPORTUNITY
Now, after the tragedy, perhaps it is time to give “priority” to finding a solution for Letur. Something, they say, for which a good opportunity opens up with the third cycle of flood risk planning of the Segura Hydrographic Confederation, whose preliminary evaluation has been under public consultation – for three months – since last September.
On the other hand, given what happened in Letur, the Platform in Defense of the Fountains draws attention to the fact that despite there being a rain alert, “there were cars parked in a flood-prone area.” And, although “we always think about floods in urban terms, It is easier to remove the car than the house“, they add.
A proposal to provide a solution to a recurring problem in Letur that the Platform claims to have transferred to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, along with another initiative related to the need to mark flood zones and to prohibit parking on alert for rain.
Today is the time to continue searching for the missing, to begin clearing debris and recapitulating the damage, but when DANA passes, they emphasize, “it will be time to reflect and work so that it is not repeated.”
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