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VIDEOS: Another day of flooding and drama in Murcia as rain begins to ease
The storm warnings have finally been revoked in Murcia, but not before they caused significant damage
The rain is nothing to laugh about in Spain. While the south of the country is often warm and pleasant weather-wise, when it rains it pours and every time the infrastructure is hard pushed to deal with the torrents of water.
There are waterways called Ramblas which are designed as flash flood defences, channelling the impromptu streams that form away from urban areas. For the most part, those Ramblas have done their jobs well over the last three days, helping to save many a home and street from flooding.
But there are other places where the storms, which have brought with them hail and lightning in places, fell so heavily and swiftly that they overpowered the drainage systems and caused roads to turn into rivers or Ramblas themselves.
Several vehicles became caught in the floods yesterday, Wednesday June 12, and the fire brigade, police and emergency rescue teams had to come and free them. In total, there were around 30 rescues in different areas of the Region, according to sources from the emergency services.
There were flooded houses and garages in Cartagena and Las Torres de Cotillas, the latter having seen its third day of flooding. The torrential rain and hail caused damage to farmers’ fields in Cieza and in Molina de Segura a mother and her 8-year-old daughter had to be pulled to safety after becoming trapped in a swell on Avenida del Chorrico.
Along the Rambla del Espinardo in Murcia city, dustbins and debris were washed down the street, which had turned into a surging river.
¡Lo que no ha llovido en lo que va de año, ha caído en apenas unos minutos! Esta tarde (12/06/2024), otro punto de vista de como baja el agua por la Rambla de Espinardo, en el norte de la ciudad de #Murcia, arrastrando todo lo que encuentra a su paso. Vídeo: Thayla Samea. pic.twitter.com/W6VUFVVQLX
— MeteOrihuela (@MeteOrihuela) June 12, 2024
Even the Accident & Emergency room at the Reina Sofía hospital was flooded, and several people were trapped on the roads in Archena. On the RM-19, between Sucina and Murcia, one driver got stuck in the mud and was rescued by firefighters.
Rescatado el conductor de un vehículo tras haber quedado atrapado en una rambla junto a la RM-19
— Bomberos Murcia (@BomberosMurcia) June 12, 2024
Han sido necesarios 3 vehículos y el helicóptero de @dgsce_RM con compañeros de @BomberosCEIS_RM .
El conductor, con movilidad reducida, se encuentra en perfecto estado. pic.twitter.com/3iLOwh3zdi
Water even wet the ankles of passengers on a bus in the San Antón neighbourhood of Murcia city as it drove through the flooded streets.
⛈️ La lluvia se cuela en el interior de un autobús
— La 7 (@la7tele) June 12, 2024
📍Barrio de San Antón (Murcia) pic.twitter.com/51LYu059kE
The Emergency Coordination Centre reported that it had received 589 calls by midnight on Wednesday. The most affected municipalities were Murcia, with 288 emergencies, followed by Las Torres de Cotillas (41), Cartagena (28) and Molina de Segura (26).
The majority of alerts were related to water drainage (139), obstacles on the road (122) and rescues (40).
How much rain was there?
At 5.36pm yesterday, the Meteorological Observatory of Murcia reported that 43.8 millimetres of rain had just been recorded in just 20 minutes, of which 32.8 millimetres had fallen in 10 minutes. “This value is very close to the 40.6 millimetres in 10 minutes of September 26, 2022, the ephemeris of 10-minute rainfall at this observatory.”
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) said, that in Murcia capital it had rained in 20 minutes more than the normal average for the whole summer, and according to the Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura (CHS) water authority, rainfall in one hour in the Murcia area exceeded 50 litres per square metre.
Sediment washed into the Mar Menor
One frequent side-effect when Murcia gets torrential rains is that mud, sludge and earth contaminated with nitrate-laden pesticides are washed into the Mar Menor, changing the delicate chemical balance of the lagoon’s ecosystem.
When drains on the Gran Vía de La Manga couldn’t hold any more water this Wednesday and when there was significant water runoff in Los Alcázares and Torre Pacheco, the backup flowed into the Mar Menor, depositing large amounts of sediments of both agricultural and urban origin.
Weather forecast for the coming days
The Aemet forecast for this Thursday June 13 is for a last few drops of rain around Cartagena and Molina de Segura before it dries out towards the afternoon and the sun comes out, which will greatly facilitate clean-up efforts.
All orange and weather warnings for rain, storms and hail, which had been issued for the last three days, have now been rescinded and – with the exception of some light rainfall in Caravaca de la Cruz, Mula and the northwest of the Region of Murcia on Saturday June 15 and Sunday 16, the forecast for the weekend and going into next week is for sunshine and temperatures hitting 30ºC again.
Murcia weather forecast, Sunday June 16
>>> Follow our Murcia Weather Watch Facebook group for more weather updates or see our Weather & Climate page <<<
Image 1: Protección Civil de Yecla
Image 2: Bomberos Murcia
Image 3: CEIS
Image 4: Salvador Madrid Vivancos
Image 5: Aemet
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