Strong winds cause chaos, two police cars damaged

THE strong winds which have been sweeping the Balearics, with gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour on the Sierra of Majorca, has caused the cancellation of many ferry sailings and minor incidents such as fallen trees. The wind also caused damage in the Port of Palma when a gangplank from a NATO ship was blown away and hit two cars, one of which happened to belong to the Port Authority and the other to the Guardia Civil. According to sources at the Balearic Meteorological Centre, in the early hours of yesterday gusts of wind of 121 kilometres per hour hit Alfabia from the north west and west. Winds of 92 km/h were registered in Capdepera, 82 km/h at Palma airport and 85 km/h in Mahon airport, which in Ibiza gusts only reached 74 km/h. This situation was bad news for shipping due to sail between Majorca and Minorca, as the shipping companies Balearia and Iscomar cancelled all the scheduled departures for their ships “Ramon Llull” and “Nura Nova” respectively, from Alcudia to Ciudadela. A spokesperson for the Balearic Port Authority explained that the port of Mahon was closed at 6.20am because of the worsening condition of the sea but it opened again at 8am to allow the ship “Wisteria”, owned by the Acciona-Trasmediterranea, to dock after waiting for 45 minutes at the entrance of the port.