President Salvador Illa warned this Saturday of the arrival of a "mini-Mediterranean hurricane" in Catalonia and announced that the Government will decree "important prevention measures" in the face of a meteorological situation that he described as "very complex." “It is not a joke,” he warned, while asking to respect the recommendations of the authorities “starting this afternoon and throughout Sunday.” This afternoon the Government has sent an alert restricting mobility from 8:00 p.m. tonight to 3:00 p.m. this Sunday in the coastal and pre-coastal regions of Tarragona, Barcelona, Girona and the regions of Osona and Miannès. During this period, activities in the natural environment, urban parks and gardens, as well as sports, cultural and leisure activities, will also be suspended.
The emergency call has triggered, for example, the cancellation of Aida's performance at the Liceu and several matches such as Asisa-Joventut-MoraBanc Andorra, of the Endesa League. Civil Protection and the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya (Meteocat) have warned that the situation “can become very complicated” in the coming hours until reaching an “exceptional episode.” The maximum impact is expected around midnight and torrential rains may be recorded, with accumulations of more than 40 millimeters in half an hour and more than 200 liters per square meter in about six hours.
Weather models, according to emergency services, point to the formation of a mesoscale convective system (MCS), a large group of highly organized storms that can remain active for several hours and generate very intense rain, strong gusts of wind and even tornadoes and sea sleeves. It is this phenomenon that Illa has described as a “mini-Mediterranean hurricane.”
“All the warnings we have are activated and in red,” warned Sergi Segalà, head of the Prediction Area of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat), in a press conference. Meteocat has raised the warnings for intense rainfall in 17 regions to the maximum danger level, 6 out of 6. The Inuncat plan remains on alert and Civil Protection will send an Es-Alert message this afternoon to mobile phones in the territories with the highest population density.
In Terres de l'Ebre, the rains fell again this Saturday morning with intensity after a few hours of respite. “It is raining in this area,” the emergency service has warned on social networks, reminding that the land is very saturated and that any intense storm can cause rapid flooding of streams and ravines and flooding in urban areas. Barcelona, the central coast and the Costa Brava, where a good part of the Catalan population is concentrated, are also affected by bad weather.
Last night Civil Protection downgraded the Inuncat plan from emergency to alert after the intensity of the rainfall decreased. On Friday, the episode left exceptional records in the Montsià and Baix Ebre regions: L'Ametlla de Mar accumulated 246.9 liters per square meter; Les Cases d’Alcanar, 231.7; and Mas de Barberans, 226.7. In Perelló 154.8 liters fell in just three hours.
After several hours without precipitation, this Saturday morning the first arm of rain associated with the deep disturbance located off the coast entered the south of the Ebro delta. According to forecasts, rainfall will progressively advance towards the rest of the territory.
Despite the intensity of the episode, the Generalitat Firefighters have not recorded any serious incidents in recent hours. Its troops continue working in the Terres de l'Ebre to bail out water and clean basements and underground areas. Since the start of the storm, they have carried out 320 actions related to the rain.
Since Thursday, Civil Protection has received 663 calls to the emergency telephone number 112, mainly from Baix Ebre and Montsià. The Medical Emergency System (SEM), for its part, had responded to 43 alerts until last night with 39 people affected in Camp de Tarragona, Terres de l'Ebre, Penedès and the south of the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Eleven of them, in mild or less serious condition, were transferred to health centers. The storm has also affected anomalies in the road network. The Servei Català de Trànsit reports that the C-12 between Amposta, Tortosa and Roquetes continues to be closed due to flooding.
Civil Protection has asked for extreme precautions throughout the weekend, especially when traveling and during outdoor activities. Given the forecast of heavy rains also in Barcelona, the City Council of the Catalan capital reactivated its emergency plan last night due to insufficient drainage.
