Malaga avoids chaos | South Journal

Between ten and eleven o’clock on Tuesday night, all mobile phones geolocated in the province of Malaga – and with the pre-alert service activated – emitted an unpleasant beep accompanied by a message calling for caution and recommending avoiding travel. It was the red alert from Civil Protection. And this is the chronicle of an announced DANA and how Málaga avoided chaos thanks to prevention.

The storm that still keeps the population in suspense has been, for now, an example that measures activated with sufficient time and with massive monitoring of the population can avoid catastrophes like the one still experienced in Valencia.

We will never know, but the story could have been very different if classes had not been suspended in schools, institutes and universities; if shops had not closed and if companies had not generally chosen to recommend teleworking.

The storm, however, was long in coming. The province went to bed with its eyes fixed on a clear sky that gave no indication of what was to come. The early morning passed with some small downpour and Wednesday dawned sparkling and, yes, with the sky an ash gray that sowed uncertainty. “In the end, four drops will fall,” was the most repeated phrase early in the morning on the streets of Malaga. But not even the most optimistic had it all.

The DANA moved as they all do: with an erratic and capricious movement. Dozens of liters could fall in one neighborhood or town, and almost nothing in the next one. On the other hand, this phenomenon was different from the previous ones, and this was explained by the director of the Malaga Meteorological Center, Jesús Riesco: «The dynamics of DANA have created a surface storm (BFA); “As the east has accelerated, it has been feeding the rains with the humidity of the sea.” Hence the significant rainfall that has occurred.

The rainfall started with two main sources: the upper part of Axarquía and the Guadalhorce region, mainly in Coín. But they soon descended towards the Campanillas area, where the preventive evictions that began the night before continued, affecting some 4,210 people.

In addition, security forces and firefighters had to intervene to rescue 32 people in homes and vehicles in the capital, according to the Government Subdelegation; and another 30 in the province, under the responsibility of the Provincial Firefighters Consortium of the Provincial Council.

Around noon the moment of truth arrived. The storm struck with more intensity where it was expected, in Malaga capital, Guadalhorce and Axarquía. In just one hour, the city discovered that the red alert was serious and that, indeed, the risk was “extreme.” Victoria Street became the river it had, in fact, been in ancient times. The same thing happened on Velázquez Avenue, while in Campanillas, neighbors worriedly relived recent episodes, such as the one in 2020, although in the end the blood did not reach the river, and it was not as bad as it could have been.

At the headquarters of the Aemet Meteorological Center, in the El Cónsul neighborhood, 133 liters per square meter were collected. Of these, 80.6 were in just one hour. Paradoxically, these offices were on the verge of flooding, which would have been the last straw. Needless to say, the red notice has been more than fulfilled.

In the province, more than 150 liters per square meter were collected throughout the day. Officially, the record for rain in one hour was precisely at the aforementioned Aemet headquarters in El Cónsul. While the highest accumulated totals occurred in Los Montes de Málaga and Alfarnatejo (150 and 148), according to data provided by the Red Hidrosur de la Junta and Aemet. The Benamargosa River (139), the Atabal water treatment plant, in Puerto de la Torre (127); Coín (126), the Limonero (91) and Casasola (87) dams were other points of interest regarding the balance of the Day.

The muddy channels after the storm of October 29 once again flowed into the Guadalhorce, which had an impressive flow late in the morning. The Campanillas River and the Maqueda stream, in the Santa Rosalía-Maqueda neighborhood, in Campanillas, experienced a significant increase in their flow, which forced the residents to evacuate from the homes on their banks.

The day passed with the threat of the city’s large rivers, especially the Guadalmedina, which overflowed at the access to Casabermeja over the bridge of the Alcaide urbanization. The streams that flow perpendicularly into the eastern coast – Toquero, Jaboneros, Caleta, Gálica and, already in Rincón de la Victoria, Totalán – also formed floods or were about to do so.

In the lower reaches of the Benamargosa River, in Axarquía, there were also problems. The firefighters of the Provincial Consortium intervened in a cut on the A-356 as it passed through Vélez (near Triana) due to the overflowing of this channel. The A-7059 (Cártama) was also cut; the A-7054 and A-7000 (Campanillas); the A-7207 (Cómpeta-Torrox); the A-7052 (Alhaurín de la Torre) and the A-7204 (Periana).

The inability of the sanitation network to absorb the storm flooded streets, businesses and even hospitals, with water coming out of toilets and sinks or seeping through roofs. The Clinical Hospital laboratory was evacuated; and the water also forced the closure of health centers in different points, as announced by the Health Delegation. Only emergency points remained open. Areas such as Lope de Rueda Avenue, in Puerto de la Torre, have also been flooded; Plutarco Avenue, in Teatinos; Sor Teresa Prat Avenue, in the west area, or Ortega y Gasset Avenue, in Cruz de Humilladero. In Almogía no less than 140 houses were flooded.

The province accumulated more than half a thousand incidents, the vast majority concentrated in the capital, although fortunately none of them were serious. Firefighters and police mainly responded to floods, but at the time of going to press there were no missing persons or serious injuries. And that is, precisely, the best news. Furthermore, in an act of responsibility, numerous businesses and companies decided to close or send their employees to telework.

The province accumulated more than 760 incidents, the vast majority concentrated in the capital, although fortunately none were serious. Firefighters and local police responded to floods and some occasional rescues, but at the time of going to press there were no missing persons or serious injuries due to this phenomenon.

The intense rainfall left the province cut off by train, since both the AVE, regional and Cercanías trains stopped working. The María Zambrano station was evacuated and closed. The EMT also interrupted all urban bus lines due to the risk posed by flooded streets and the metro did the same and ended up canceling the service. Meanwhile, air traffic suffered, with five flights diverted and one cancelled, although it was the transportation infrastructure that best withstood the onslaught of the storm.

The positive side was put on the reservoirs, which at the close of this edition had gained more than 12 cubic hectometers (up from 154), which is enough water for the capital to drink for three months.