A popular Spanish tourist destination has been hit by a ‘water explosion’ and raging floods after the region was hit with the most rain it has seen in 70 years.
A waterfall has formed along the Barranco del Saltador river in Cehegín, Murcia on Thursday as heavy rains fell in the region.
The rapidly flowing water erupted along the river after the region was hit with more than 400litres per square metre of rain in the first six days of March.
Fast-flowing floods have turned Murcia’s streets into rivers, with video showing how cars and containers are being swept away in rushing water.
Continued rainfall has caused riverbeds to overflow and forced road closures throughout the region. Officials have asked locals to avoid travelling.
The east, south and parts of the north of the country were given yellow and orange warnings for severe weather earlier this week that encompassed Murcia and several other tourists hotspots including Malaga, Valencia and Alicante.
Spanish meteorological agency Aemet lifted all heavy rain alerts Friday morning, but warned that Storm Jana is expected to bring strong winds and further showers to the area throughout the weekend.
The latest round of wicked weather comes after the Canary Islands were hit with flash flooding and heavy snow in back-to-back episodes.
A waterfall has formed along the Barranco del Saltador river in Cehegín, Murcia on Thursday as heavy rains fell in the region. The rapidly flowing water erupted along the river after the region was hit with more than 400litres per square metre of rain in the first six days of March
Fast-flowing floods have turned Murcia’s streets into rivers. Cars were swept away by running water on Thursday after the Río Guadalentín overflowed
The latest round of wicked weather comes after the Canary Islands were hit with flash flooding and heavy snow in back-to-back episodes. Cars were swallowed by raging floods on Gran Canaria on Monday
Heavy rainfall caused landslides to erupt in Lorca, southwest of the city of Murcia, on Thursday, flooding homes, garages and other buildings, El Español reported.
Vehicles and roads were washed away in raging floods. The local emergency team responded to 110 incidents, most related to flooding, in just five hours.
Officials carried out 12 rescues of vehicles and people, according to reports, but luckily no fatalities were recorded on Thursday. A father-of-two, aged 50, was killed on Monday when the Rambla de Ramonete overflowed.
The area has been devastated by the weather, with preliminary damage estimates being at least 13million euros (£10.9million).
Lorca City Council expects this to increase after officials inspect infrastructures throughout the municipality.
The regional government also plans to request that Lorca be declared a disaster area.
Dozens of roads were closed on Thursday, with several still remaining shut Friday due to flooding and other damage, according to Murcia Today.
Rapidly running water rushes through the Salto del Usero of Bullas, Murcia on Thursday after the area recorded rainfall of 200litres per square metre, causing the Mula River to flood
The riverbed of the Río Guadalentín, a tributary of the Río Segura, overflowed on Thursday, causing streets to flood in the city of Lorca, Murcia
Residents look at a flooded area that blocks a road between the towns of Cehegin and Canara on Thursday after the river Argos overflowed due to heavy rains in Murcia
An emergency services vehicle is driven through a flooded road at the town of Cehegin amid heavy rains in Murcia, southeastern Spain on Thursday
A worker uses a digger at a damaged road near Quipar river in the town of Cehegin due to heavy rains in Murcia, southeastern Spain on Thursday
The Spanish mainland was hammered with wicked floods this week, with footage showing entire roads being turned into rivers as flash floods engulf entire towns.
Cars were forced to drive through water-laden streets and firefighters were seen wading through knee-high water as they attempted to clear roads and rescue people stuck in their vehicles.
Schools and social service centres have been forced to close following days of damaging and heavy rainfall.
Rainfall is expected to continue this weekend as Storm Jana rolls through. Although meteorologists predict it will be ‘less persistent’ than earlier this week, accumulation levels are expected to continue to rise.
The region will be battling strong winds from Saturday night and into Sunday morning, especially northwest of Murcia.
Temperatures could drop at night to as low as 2C in the north and 5C to 8C in the south. Daytime temperatures are expected to be around 15C to 17C.
Storm Jana will also bring snowfall to the mountains during Friday and the weekend.
Thunderstorms and showers are expected to continue into next week, but no severe weather warnings have been issued at this time.
Two men look at the river Argos on its way through the town of Cehegin after heavy rains in Murcia on Thursday
A resident stands by a flooded area that blocks a road between the towns of Cehegin and Canara on Thursday after heavy rainfall struck the Murcia region
The overflowed river Argos upon its way through the town of Cehegin due to heavy rains in Murcia, southeastern Spain on Thursday
The flooding comes after the Canary Islands was deluged over recent days, with streets turned into rivers by the weather phenomenon known locally as DANA – a Spanish acronym for high-altitude isolated depression, and unlike common storms or squalls it can form independently of polar or subtropical jet streams.
On Monday, dramatic footage emerged from the Canary Islands showing cars being rapidly swept tens of metres into the sea as strong rain hits the island.
In another clip, a car is caught up in the swell before it is flushed down the road and out of view. While some cars were dragged into the sea by the aggressive floods, others lay vertical, stuck or destroyed.
Bollards rattled and bins were also swept away by the heavy streams. A number of vehicles were also dragged into the Las Bachilleras ravine.
A clean up operations have begun with residents and firefighters picking up shovels and brushes to clear mounds of mud in the streets and houses of the badly affected Salinetas neighborhood in Telde.
When cold air blows over warm Mediterranean waters it causes hotter air to rise quickly and form towering, dense, water-laden clouds that can remain over the same area for many hours, raising their destructive potential.
Aemet says DANAs sometimes become stationary or even move backwards, from east to west.
Water from the Rio Ebro rushed through the Viuda ravine in Castellón (pictured) earlier this week. The flooding caused damage in the nearby towns of Els Ivarsos and Sierra Engarcerán
The latest bad weather comes after Canary Islands were hit with flash flooding and heavy snow in back-to-back episodes. Pictured is a sun lounge in Lanzarote, Canary Islands that was flooded earlier this week
Firefighters were seen wading through knee-high water as they attempted to clear roads in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands earlier this week
Rescuers were forced to rescue stranded civilians after flash floods erupted in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands earlier this week
Spain has seen massive flooding in recent days
Last year flash floods in Valencia and other parts of Spain killed more than 200 people, destroyed thousands of homes and triggered mass protests against regional authorities.
The most up-to-date reports indicate that 223 people lost their lives, with at least 31 still missing, making it Spain’s deadliest weather disaster in decades.
The emergency response included the deployment of over 2,000 personnel from Spain’s military emergency unit, who worked alongside local responders and volunteers to conduct rescue and recovery operations.
An additional number of more than 30,000 volunteers were mobilised, from all over the country, to support the cleanup efforts.
To date, hundreds of families have lost their homes and thousands have seen their vehicles destroyed.
