Police car destroyed during Sant Llorenç floods.

Police car destroyed during Sant Llorenç floods. | Ultima Hora

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterMajorca09/10/2020 12:04
TW
0

25 people were killed by floods in Majorca between 1960 and 2018 and 14 of them lost their lives when they were inside their vehicles, according to a study by the Climatology, Hydrology, Natural Risks &Territory Research Group at the University of the Balearics, or UIB.

13 of the victims died when torrential rain caused fatal floods in Sant Llorenç des Cardassar two years ago.

Researchers studied the location, characteristics and circumstances of the floods and revealed the particularities of each case, including age, sex and origin of the victims, the conditions in which they were swept away, detailed schedules of the event and typology of the environments in which they occurred: medium urban or rural, building, communication route and whether it was registered in a vehicle.

This number of fatalities from floods in Majorca is lower than in other nearby Mediterranean areas and vehicles are the highest fatal risk factor in a torrent, by far.

Of the 25 fatalities, 14 were in cars, 8 were in buildings and the rest correspond to people walking outdoors.

The study found that a significant number of cases occurred in small torrents where the water flow was not noticeable.

One of the most widely reported events in Majorca happened at the Corso Hotel in Portocolom in September 1989, when three people died in a torrent with a basin of just 1.1 square kilometers.