Several roads had to be closed due to the heavy rains in Madrid.
Image: dpa
It hasn’t rained so much for a hundred years: “Aline” floods streets, subway stations and hospitals in the Spanish capital. An important rail connection is also affected by the storm.
EA rain record since records began more than a century ago caused chaos in Madrid on Thursday. Between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. alone, a rainfall of a good 90 liters per square meter was recorded in the Spanish capital, the national weather service Aemet announced in the evening. That number was expected to rise by midnight. But before the end of the day, the old Madrid daily record from September 21, 1972 (87 liters) had been exceeded, it was said.
The storm “Aline” caused major problems, especially from the afternoon onwards. Numerous streets, basements, subway stations and even hospitals were flooded, reported the state television broadcaster RTVE. Several streets were closed and subway and S-Bahn traffic partially came to a standstill. In addition, several trees were uprooted. The Retiro city park in the center of the city, popular with “Madrileños” and tourists, was closed for safety reasons. The fire department reported almost 200 calls by 5 p.m. But there were no injuries, it was said.
The storm also caused numerous problems in other parts of Spain. Probably the biggest thing: The high-speed rail connection between the country’s two largest metropolises, Madrid and Barcelona, which is used by many thousands every day, had to be stopped in the afternoon due to a weather-related defect, the rail network administration authority Adif announced. By late evening the connection had not yet been restored.
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