A court in Manacor has opened procedures to determine what could have caused the giant wave of floodwater that inundated Sant Llorenç on 9 October. One view is that some type of illegal construction could have created a "dike effect" that aggravated the flow of water.
The investigation has been opened because an examination of the area has led experts to believe that the movement of water was abnormal and that something "alien" to the torrent could have caused this. From images that have been obtained of the events of 9 October, it would seem that the movement of water was not gradual, which might be expected in such conditions, but was sudden.
The wave that hit Sant Llorenç reached five metres height. The first metre and a half was not water but mud dragged from the torrent. Those investigating what happened have digitally re-created the action of the water in the torrent from the point in the mountains where it began to form a type of avenue. This suggests that the velocity of water in the two torrents that meet in Sant Llorenç was normal but that there was a point where it suddenly gained force just before it reached the village.
It is for this reason that it is suspected that something had initially held back the water before it suddenly and violently broke past it. The re-creation shows that the force of the water was unusual and continued as far as Son Carrió, where it began to weaken.
The investigations are at an initial phase. It could be that the court opts to close the file if the conclusions are that the floods were perfectly natural. Because of the sensitivity of the case, the investigations will be conduced with great discretion.
