The passage of the DANA Adam through the Peninsula this weekend has caused the death of a woman who was swept away by a river in Barcelona and a trail of incidents on the Mediterranean coast, where this Sunday Valencia, Alicante, Ibiza and Formentera have been on high alert due to dangerous torrential rains. The warnings, however, will remain active this Monday in several communities, where storms, significant accumulations and flooding will continue to occur. The most complicated is expected again in the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands, where numerous municipalities have canceled classes.
The storm caused by DANA has continued to produce all kinds of incidents. In Catalonia, emergency teams have located this Sunday the body of the 35-year-old woman who had been missing since Saturday afternoon after being dragged by a river in the Barcelona town of Cabrera del Mar. The events occurred around 7:30 p.m., when the woman was walking with her husband and two children in the area of the Cabrera municipal pavilion, located in the vicinity of the river, where the family had gone to watch a match. basketball.
As the mayor of Cabrera, Óscar Fernández, explained, while the sporting event was taking place, a warning of torrential rain was given in the municipality, so all attendees were asked not to leave the facilities. Despite this, the councilor said, "some people" decided to leave the pavilion. Among them was the family, who were walking along a street flooded with water when, suddenly, the woman fell into a river and was then swept away by the force of the water. After an extensive search effort, in which 18 firefighters, Mossos d'Esquadra, Local Police and Maritime Rescue have participated, the authorities have finally found the lifeless body around 11:00 a.m. in the port of Premià, about 6 kilometers from the point where he disappeared.
After learning of the facts, Fernández has expressed his condolences from his City Council. In addition, he has assured that a day of mourning will be declared and that a minute of silence will be held in memory of the woman. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has lamented the death of the woman in a message on his social networks and has conveyed his condolences to the victim's relatives, while thanking the search team for their work.
In the rest of Catalonia, although the DANA has given a little more respite than on Saturday, the Generalitat has kept the alert of its Inuncat Civil Protection plan activated, since, although the torrential rains have ceased during the day, the heavy rainfall is expected to be reactivated this Monday. Firefighters sources have reported that, since the beginning of the rainfall, a total of 430 calls have been received, resulting in 337 incidents due to the rain, most of them in the northern and coastal regions of Barcelona.
The rains have also affected air traffic and have caused up to 45 flight cancellations at the Barcelona-El Prat airport, although during the morning the airport has already returned to normal operation. Likewise, Rodalies de Catalunya has also recovered its service this Sunday, which was suspended on Saturday from 10:00 p.m. due to damage to several of its lines.
The data collected by the Meteocat service indicates that it has not rained so much in a single day in Catalonia for six years. From noon this Saturday until 9:00 a.m. this Sunday, numerous points in eastern Catalonia have exceeded 50 liters per square meter. In Ciuret, in the Osona region, 97.7 have been accumulated, while in some points of Vallès and Baix Llobregat close to 100 liters per square meter have reached.
Maximum alert in the Valencian Community
Another of the critical points due to the storm has been the Valencian Community, with the southern coast of Valencia and the north of Alicante on red alert (extraordinary danger) due to rain throughout the day, a warning that, far from easing, will remain active until 10:00 a.m. this Monday, when it will become yellow. Given the persistent rains, the Generalitat has sent an Es-Alert message in which citizens in the affected areas have been asked to avoid travel, not to cross flood-prone areas and to stay away from rivers, ravines, channels and promenades.
The rainfall has especially affected the La Safor region, where this Sunday it exceeded 200 liters per square meter. Specifically, the Avamet observatory in Real de Gandía accumulates 217.6 liters, in Rafelcofer 213.4 and in Benirredrá 201.4. With these figures, the Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat has reported that a total of 236 incidents of material damage on public roads and incidents on the road network have been managed. The majority have occurred in Alicante (145), followed by Valencia (87) and Castellón (4).
This Emergency Center has also activated the yellow level hydrological pre-emergency of the Special Flood Plan in the Pego-Girona-Gorgos area, in the province of Alicante, a declaration that urges the municipalities in the area to activate their municipal flood and emergency plans and to intensify surveillance of the riverbeds and other conflict points. During the afternoon, the town of Pego added 85 liters per square meter of precipitation in just 45 minutes. Floods have also occurred in the Alicante municipality of Denia.
The EMU is activated in the Balearic Islands
In the Balearic Islands, the red alert for rainfall has also been activated this Sunday since early morning in Ibiza and Formentera, while Mallorca has remained on orange alert, waiting for the red alert to be activated during the early hours of this Monday. The episode of intense rains has so far left significant records such as 97.4 l/m² in one hour, between 8 and 9 a.m. in the morning, in Formentera, or the 122.8 l/m² accumulated in 24 hours on that island (until 6:10 p.m.).
The strong storms have caused the Military Emergency Unit (UME) to be activated, which has mobilized units from its third battalion at the Valencia base to collaborate with the emergency services in both Ibiza and Mallorca. The Government has also activated the Special Plan to deal with the risk of floods (Inunbal), in operational situation 2 in Ibiza and Formentera and two Es-Alert messages have been sent to all citizens of both islands. In the first of them, Civil Protection has asked citizens to be cautious and to avoid flood-prone areas until the adverse conditions subside. In the second message, issued just 25 minutes later, the suspension of all sporting, social and cultural activities abroad was announced due to the risk of flooding.
The storm has also forced operations at Ibiza airport to be paralyzed on two occasions, which has caused 27 flight cancellations and 16 diversions, affecting both national and international flights. In addition, the airport road remains closed due to flooding, but alternative routes have been enabled to reach it. At this point, in fact, 121.3 l/m² have accumulated in the last 24 hours. Until 2:00 p.m., the Emergency Coordination Center 112 has registered 87 incidents, the majority due to flooding in establishments, falling trees or landslides of urban elements.
Heavy rains also in Andalusia, Extremadura and Murcia
DANA Adam has also hit Andalusian territory, with some areas of Seville, Málaga, Cádiz, Almería and the coast of Granada under orange warning due to rain of 50 liters per square meter in one hour. In total, the Andalusian Emergency Center has attended to 357 incidents since the start of the rainfall. One of the most affected areas has been the neighborhood of El Palo, in Malaga, where a part of the roof of a health center has fallen without causing any personal injury. In addition, the Civil Protection Territorial Emergency Plan has been activated throughout the city.
Another of the most affected towns has been Algeciras, in Cádiz, where the port and several streets of the municipality have been completely flooded and the City Council has been forced to activate phase 1 of the Municipal Emergency Plan. In the town of El Cuervo, in Seville, the rain has caused several streams to overflow, which has complicated traffic on the AP-4 highway as it passes through the town. In Motril, Granada, the storms have caused the Andalusian Half Marathon Championship to be suspended, for which nearly 2,500 runners had signed up.
On the other hand, during the afternoon the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has issued a special warning for very heavy and persistent rains in the Region of Murcia, as well as in the province of Almería, which has led the authorities to ask the population for caution. Murcia's 112 has responded to a total of 122 incidents since the arrival of the storm. In Extremadura, the Urgent and Emergency Care Center has activated yellow warnings in areas of the south of Badajoz due to rain of up to 20 liters per square meter in one hour.
Instability continues this Monday
However, DANA Adam is not moving away from the Peninsula and this Monday Aemet expects that the situation of instability will continue in a good part of the country, especially in the Valencian Community, on the coasts of the southeast and the Balearic Islands, where storms of very strong or torrential intensity are expected. Throughout the day, however, they will weaken, although the rains will move to Catalonia, where very heavy showers may occur between Monday afternoon and Tuesday.
The Valencian Community will continue to maintain the red alert until 10:00 a.m. on the southern coast of Valencia and in the north of Alicante. Given this, a total of 42 municipalities in these areas have reported the suspension of classes on Monday as a preventive measure. The towns that have adopted this measure in Valencia are: Gandía, Beneixida (until 11.30), L'Alcúdia, Fortaleny, Algemesí, Oliva, Alberic, Carcaixent, Carlet, Montroi, Càrcer, Cullera, Sollana, Albalat de la Ribera, Riola, Tavernes de la Valldigna, Xeraco, Bellreguard, Piles, Benirredrà, Xeresa, as well as in the morning in Sueca and Alzira. In Alicante, for its part, school activities have been suspended in El Verger, Pego, Callosa d'En Sarrià, Benissa, Pedreguer, Gata de Gorgos, Els Poblets, Dénia, Murla, Benigembla, Altea, Xàbia, Calpe, La Sella and Poble Nou de Benitatxe. The Universitat de València (UV) and the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia (UPV) already established Emergency Level 2 last Friday, which implies the closure of the campuses and the suspension of in-person cultural, sports and social activities.
In the Balearic Islands, both Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera will be under an orange warning this Monday due to strong storms according to Aemet and forecasts suggest that 160 liters per square meter could be reached in the Pitiusas and 140 liters per square meter in Mallorca. Given this, the Balearic Government has also made the decision to suspend classes on the three islands. The regional Executive has asked families and the educational community to follow the communications from the centers and the information from the Government's official channels, such as social networks. The president of the Government, Marga Prohens, explained that the decision has been adopted following the recommendations of Emergencies and the protocol signed with Education.
