Spain Issues Further Flood Alerts as Málaga Evacuates Thousands

Thousands of residents have been evacuated from their homes in southern Spain’s Costa del Sol region due to extreme rainfall and widespread flooding. The national weather office Aemet has placed both Malaga and the northeastern Catalonia region under its highest alert level for intense rain, which is expected to continue until Friday. The Malaga area, including the tourist resorts of Marbella, Velez, and Estepona, is anticipated to bear the brunt of this extreme weather phenomenon, known as a “Dana.” Parts of eastern Valencia have also been issued the highest alert, weeks after the area was devastated by flash floods that claimed more than 220 lives. Several other regions across Spain are preparing for additional heavy showers and lower temperatures. Forecasters predict that Catalonia in north-eastern Spain could experience up to 180mm of rain in just 12 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms along the coast near Tarragona. Schools throughout the southern province of Málaga have been closed, and many supermarkets have kept their shutters down. Footage circulating on social media showed the city’s usually bustling areas deserted as water inundated the streets. The Regional Government of Andalusia has stated that approximately 3,000 people living near the Guadalhorce River have been instructed to leave their homes. Antonio Sanz, the Regional Government’s Minister of the Presidency, said: “We have not evacuated entire towns, but rather specific areas linked to the riverbank. “This decision has been communicated to the government of Spain in order to receive collaboration from the state security forces and bodies.” The International Tennis Federation announced that the severe weather alert in Málaga has also led to the postponement of the opening tie of the Billie Jean King Cup between Spain and Poland. The two nations were scheduled to compete in Malaga on Wednesday. Spain’s meteorological agency Aemet has issued an orange alert for parts of the Andalusia region and the Balearic Islands, effective immediately until Thursday. Aemet warns of rainfall and storms that could be “very strong to torrential.” In other parts of Spain, precautions are being taken, with eastern and southern Mediterranean areas identified as the most vulnerable. This orange alert is the second-highest level and signifies a significant meteorological event “with a degree of danger for normal activities.” In Valencia, school classes and sports activities were suspended in some areas, and sandbags were piled up to protect the center of the town of Aldaia. However, this second Dana weather system is not expected to be as dramatic as the red alert on 29 October, when the Valencia region, in particular, suffered an unprecedented loss of lives and material damage. Elsewhere, rescue teams searching for the bodies of two young brothers who were swept away in the Valencia floods two weeks ago reported that their bodies had been found. Izan Matías, 5, and Rubén Matías, 3, were pulled from their father Victor Matías’s arms when the torrent ripped through their home in Valencia on the evening of 29 October. Their aunt Barabara Sastre confirmed to the BBC that the boys had been found. Their bodies were recovered in different locations. “My little angels, we have finally found you” one family friend, David Garcia, wrote online. “Two stars shine brighter in the sky.” Yesterday, search teams had focused on part of the River Pollo about 6km (3.7km) from the family home. The boys’ uncle Iván had told the BBC he was hugely grateful for all the support they had received and hoped his nephews would be found. Volunteers from the Canary Islands and other parts of Spain had joined recovery specialists from Mexico, who normally work in the aftermath of earthquakes. On Monday, the family dog was found dead in a garage in the town of Paiporta, more than 12km (7.4 miles) from their house in La Curra, a neighbourhood of Mas del Jutge. Dana weather systems are formed when an area of low pressure gets “cut off” from the main flow of the jet stream. This means that instead of moving through a region relatively quickly, they get blocked over the same area leading to persistent rainfall for several days. Colder air high in the atmosphere meets warmer air flowing in from the Mediterranean which intensifies the storm. On the first day of the COP29 climate summit on Monday, the Secretary General of the World Meterological Organisation Celeste Saulo said the recent floods in Spain were a strong message to the world. “The incredible amount of rain in Spain was a wake-up call (about) how much more water a warmer atmosphere can hold,” she said. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.