Two weeks after the floods, a new deluge hits Spain

New torrential rains fell on the south and east of Spain on Wednesday, reviving the fears of the victims, just two weeks after the devastating floods which left at least 223 dead, mainly in the Valencia region.

The national meteorological agency (Aemet) has issued a red alert, the maximum level, in the provinces of Malaga (south) and Tarragona (north-east), due to this news cold dropan isolated high-altitude depression quite common in autumn on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

In areas placed on red alert, located on the coast, nearly 120 to 180 liters of precipitation per square meter (120 to 180 millimeters) could accumulate over the next few hours, according to theAemet. The precipitation will last until Thursday.

Heavy rains, although less heavy, are also expected in the Valencia region, affected by the floods of October 29, with the fear of seeing the sewers still blocked by mud overflow and while residents struggle to raise their heads in the face of the enormous damage caused by this tragedy.

We have nothing left to loselamented Carlos Moltó, a resident of Picaña, a municipality of 11,000 inhabitants located in the suburbs of Valencia, near the regional television channel A Punt.

We have already lost our cars, we have already lost a large part of our homes and we don’t have a job either.

The neighboring municipality of Paiporta, considered the epicenter of the tragedy of October 29, for its part suffered new floods, according to the newspaper The Provinces. In this town, which is still devastated, residents have set up makeshift barricades with bags of earth in front of the doors of houses.

As a precaution, several municipalities in the region have asked the thousands of volunteers who come every day to help residents clear the streets not to go to the disaster areas on Wednesday.

The new rains could disrupt the search for the 17 people still missing according to the authorities. Operations are mainly concentrated around watercourses and on the coast, at river mouths.

In Andalusia and Catalonia, where the provinces placed on red alert are located (Malaga and Tarragona), the authorities anticipated the possible consequences of heavy rains by sending alert messages to cell phones, the reception of which causes a strong signal sound.

Be very careful, avoid traveling and follow the advice emergency services, indicates the message sent to Malaga.

Strong criticism of the authorities, considered too slow

The Valencian authorities were heavily criticized for sending this warning message late on October 29:Aemet had placed the region on red alert in the morning, but many residents in the area were already underwater when the message was transmitted.

Indignation against the authorities, accused of having poorly assessed the risks and of having delayed too long in the deployment of relief, gave rise to massive demonstrations on Saturday, the largest of which brought together 130,000 people in the city ​​of Valencia.

The red alert launched by theAemetcorresponding to meteorological phenomena of exceptional intensity presenting a very high level of risk for the populationalso led the authorities to suspend classes on Wednesday in part of Catalonia and in Andalusian cities such as Granada and Malaga.

In the latter city, bad weather also led to the postponement to Friday of a match between Spain and Poland as part of the Billie Jean King Cup in women’s tennis, which was to be played on Wednesday afternoon.

In the Valencia region, this new “cold drop” caused waves of more than four meters on the coast and convinced the authorities to close certain roads and train lines. Maritime traffic was also suspended in the ports of Valencia and Sagunto.