Another flash flood hit Spain on Friday, November 8, this time in the north of Catalonia. No alert was sent to mobile phones in the area because the situation was declared ‘under control.’
The shock in the town of Cadaqués came after a strong autumn storm inland provoked a sudden wash down the mountainside on the north Costa Brava, dragging dozens of cars with it.
Many of the cars had been parked in a flood control channel where parking was prohibited. ‘We had the alert that had come to us from the Cecat (Operational Coordination Centre of Catalonia), but people had parked their cars already and the water just washed them away,’ Maria Pia Seriñana, mayor of Cadaqués, said. She also made mention that there had been no prior warning from the fire brigade of any flood coming.
Credit: JAVIER9090, X
After the downpour, at a rate of 100 litres of water per square metre per hour, the cars were washed down the channel in a similarly dramatic fashion as in the flood disaster in Valencia 10 days before. Just as dramatic was how one by one the cars crashed into a bridge, causing a blockage, temporarily damming the flood flow.
A flood warning did come in from the local meteorological service, but after the incident had already happened. The local fire service had also received eight alerts since 3am, but mainly about flooding in private homes. Luckily, on this occasion, there were no victims.
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