Pamela, I too am surprised there isn’t a thread on the disastrous weather.
I don’t know how our village or house has faired as I am in the UK. Even with moderate heavy rain there are always problems Side roads closed due to debris or damage. This level of damage and loss of human life is on a different level completely.
Where would you begin to rebuild lives?
Has anyone on the forum been affected?
Floods and rain
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- Andalucia Guru
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Re: Floods and rain
Andalucia got off pretty lightly compared to the East Coast. In 2007, it was different, with really severe floods in Nerja and Almuñecar; however, there were few fatalities.
It was only to be expected, with the exceptionally high sea temperature, that October is the month that a DANA is likely to be catastrophically severe. The loss of life is tragic, but it is difficult to see how it can be avoided. Clearly, there is no doubt that climate change is the cause.
Sadly, it may be the worst case on record, but it certainly won't be the last.
Sid
It was only to be expected, with the exceptionally high sea temperature, that October is the month that a DANA is likely to be catastrophically severe. The loss of life is tragic, but it is difficult to see how it can be avoided. Clearly, there is no doubt that climate change is the cause.
Sadly, it may be the worst case on record, but it certainly won't be the last.
Sid
Re: Floods and rain
We had the storms with heavy rain in Poniente Granada Olive but nothing drastic. Think Valencia got the brunt of it and the death toll is rising hour by hour. The photos on sky news app just make you want to cry.
Re: Floods and rain
La Cala Del Moral got battered as did El Palo and some inland villages but nothing like Valencia region. I think on the whole Andalucia escaped. The way the death toll is rising is horrific and i think will go much higher.
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- Andalucia Guru
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Re: Floods and rain
Loads of recriminations. Some blaming the emergeny services others blaming both sides of the political spectrum. However, setting aside it being a consequnce of climate change, from the pictures I have seen of cars piled up on in a street, it looks like very little could have been done by anyone, no matter how fast the emegency services reacted or the fact of there being an absence of anti-flooding measures.
Last edited by markwilding on Fri Nov 01, 2024 11:06 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Floods and rain
People are angry and understandably feel the need to blame someone. At the end of the day as sad as it is it’s a natural disaster and not the Politicians or emergency workers fault.
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- Andalucia Guru
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Re: Floods and rain
Obviously, there will be an enquiry. One thing that might have to be looked at is how some rushed down to their basement car parks to save cars and within seconds the water was very high.
Re: Floods and rain
Someone on Spanish TV said it wasn't even raining where they were, it was just flash flooding coming down from the higher ground. There was a video from a car driving along and then suddenly a wall of water appeared. It was like a tsunami. One man died in the lift going down to the basement carpark to check on his car, as you mention Mark. There must be more that were trapped in their cars and drowned, it's devastating.
The worst rains we experienced here were in the late 1990s after 5 years of drought. One of the motorway bridges around Malaga had collapsed and a landslide had blocked the other lane, so we had to drive through Malaga city from the airport for a while until it was repaired. I can remember spending a week here when it would just rain torrentially every day and we were pleased to be going back to England as the house leaked from the roof and windows all the time. There's been odd occasions of torrential rain here (I remember September 2007 when a bridge over the Chillar in Nerja was washed away) but it seems to be all or nothing. That's always been in the back of my mind that after so many years of bad drought you often get an unprecedented amount in a short period of time. The weather can sadly be very unpredictable.
The worst rains we experienced here were in the late 1990s after 5 years of drought. One of the motorway bridges around Malaga had collapsed and a landslide had blocked the other lane, so we had to drive through Malaga city from the airport for a while until it was repaired. I can remember spending a week here when it would just rain torrentially every day and we were pleased to be going back to England as the house leaked from the roof and windows all the time. There's been odd occasions of torrential rain here (I remember September 2007 when a bridge over the Chillar in Nerja was washed away) but it seems to be all or nothing. That's always been in the back of my mind that after so many years of bad drought you often get an unprecedented amount in a short period of time. The weather can sadly be very unpredictable.
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- Andalucia Guru
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Re: Floods and rain
There are many complaints about the lack of flood warnings in Valencia. The Met Office AEMET published a red warning at 7.30. I saw it when I checked the weather at around 9.00. However, the other authorities spent far too long looking at the situation and did not issue a distress SMS warning until 8.30 pm - far too late.
This is a system that sends an alert to all mobile phones (smart or otherwise) that emits a VERY loud tone on your phone which you cannot ignore. or mute. The text message contains full details of the warning. Think air raid sirens in WW2. As always, bureaucracy gets in the way. In the UK they would need to convene a COBRA meeting! It uses a separate system from the normal cellphone network, dedicated to emergency transmissions only. I was aware of that as our alarm system is claimed to be hackproof as it can use the emergency system as a backup.
It's a great system so long as it reacts quickly enough. Andalucia does not currently use it yet, but I read that that will change almost immediately.
Sid
This is a system that sends an alert to all mobile phones (smart or otherwise) that emits a VERY loud tone on your phone which you cannot ignore. or mute. The text message contains full details of the warning. Think air raid sirens in WW2. As always, bureaucracy gets in the way. In the UK they would need to convene a COBRA meeting! It uses a separate system from the normal cellphone network, dedicated to emergency transmissions only. I was aware of that as our alarm system is claimed to be hackproof as it can use the emergency system as a backup.
It's a great system so long as it reacts quickly enough. Andalucia does not currently use it yet, but I read that that will change almost immediately.
Sid
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Re: Floods and rain
I've been looking at some of the flood protection systems in Valencia City. These don't seem to have received much attention in the UK press. Apparently, there was a major catastrophe in the 50's. The local Turia River flooded and there was a huge loss of life and damage. As a result, a lot of money was spent diverting the river into a huge storm drain, which for most of the year is a dry river bed, not unlike the one in Málaga that runs down between the area where El Corte Ingles and the area where the municipal market is. The pictures I have seen look like the Thames on a very bad day! Its absolutely huge! Without it, the city centre would be underwater.
https://www.lasprovincias.es/valencia-c ... 11-nt.html
Sid
https://www.lasprovincias.es/valencia-c ... 11-nt.html
Sid
Re: Floods and rain
The so called dry river bed in Malaga city did its job. It’s dry 95% of the time but on Tuesday afternoon it was very full. Thursday afternoon it was almost dry again.
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