Mallorca panic over, all weather alerts lifted, storm heads back to Valencia

Mallorca’s firefighters and emergency services responded to around twenty incidents, mainly in the areas of Calvia, Manacor and Puigpunyent, although none of them were serious. In total, the passage of the DANA through the Balearics has left 47 incidents, most of them caused by minor flooding and falling branches and rocks.

In Mallorca a total of 38 incidents were reported, most of them in Manacor, where the heavy rain today, Wednesday in the area has caused the Es Domingos Gran stream to overflow and a stretch of the road from Cala Murada to Porto Cristo has had to be closed for half an hour due to a small accumulation of water. The rain also caused the partial closure of three other roads in the area: the Ma-4100, the Ma-4020 and the Ma-4015, although traffic has now been restored.

In Ibiza there have been a total of 9 incidents, such as small floods in the area of Playa d’en Bossa, but no major complications. The storm front, which hit the region on Tuesday with the activation of Meteobal’s IG1, left maximum accumulated rainfall of 63 litres per square metre in the Serra de Tramuntana and 53 in Ibiza. The regional government thanked the public for their responsible behaviour in the face of the rain and stormy weather.

On the mainland, Spaniards braced for further heavy rain and storms on Wednesday, just two weeks after rain and flash floods prompted rivers to overflow in Valencia and other parts of Spain, killing more than 200 people and destroying homes and property. Spanish weather forecaster AEMET issued red alerts on Wednesday morning for eastern Tarragona and southern Malaga provinces, saying it expected them to receive as much as 180 millimetres (7.1 inches) per square metre of heavy to torrential rain within 12 hours that could cause rivers to overflow and generate flash floods.

Orange alerts were issued for Thursday for southern Granada and Valencia’s coastal area from Denia to Sagunto, where between 40 and 120mm (1.6 to 4.7 inches) of rain were projected to fall.
Winds of up to 74 miles per hour (119 kmph) and high seas were predicted for Tarragona, Barcelona and Murcia.

Emergency services in Malaga have moved 3,000 people from homes at high risk of flooding near the Guadalhorce River west of the city, and in other areas asked citizens to seek higher ground.
Classes have been suspended in schools in Malaga, Valencia and some municipalities of Catalonia. Two metro lines have been closed or partially closed in Malaga, along with three highways deemed at risk of flash floods.

In Valencia, where the regional government and Red Cross handed out jackets and blankets, Gandia cargo and passenger port was closed, and the finals of the Billie Jean King tennis tournament in Malaga were postponed to Friday. Spain’s Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz and unions reminded workers that they were not legally obliged to go to work if weather conditions made it unsafe for them to do so.