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Date Published: 11/10/2022

ARCHIVED - Alicante takes a battering from heavy rain as storms bring chaos

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Aemet has deactivated an earlier alert for heavy rain in Alicante for Tuesday October 11 but north winds will see temperatures drop

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Alicante takes a battering from heavy rain as storms bring chaos

Alicante province took a battering from torrential rain accompanied by thunder and electrical storms on Monday evening, October 10, leading to flash flooding, power outages, widespread traffic problems and forcing flight diversions at Alicante-Elche airport.

The Vega Baja region, in particular Torrevieja, and the Medio Vinalopó area of the province, were the hardest hit, with frightening scenes of cars being washed away surfacing on social media, and landslides.

More than 50 litres of rainfall per m2 fell in Torrevieja in just 45 minutes and trapped vehicles and pedestrians as overflowing drains and burst manholes flooded the centre, beach and commercial area.

Fifty litres was also recorded in Sax, 40 in Monóvar, 35 in Elda-Petrer, 25 in Novelda-Aspe and 14 in Pinoso.

Between 8.14pm on Monday and 1.30am this morning, crews from Alicante Provincial Consortium of Firefighters dealt with 14 incidents due to rainfall, the majority in Torrevieja, where troops rescued several motorists trapped inside their vehicles as they were being dragged by rushing water in the Doña Inés district.

There were also at least four call-outs to flooded homes and garages in Guardamar del Segura, and in Alcoy, residents had a lucky escape when a landslide dumped rocks and debris perilously close to their home.

As rain lashed the province on Monday evening, four flights destined for Alicante-Elche airport were unable to land due to the adverse weather conditions and were diverted to Valencia, Murcia, Malaga and Ibiza.

The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) warned of heavy rain on Monday, and placed the region on alert. For the moment, the cold air at altitude persists and Tuesday is forecast to be "somewhat unstable" with highs of just above 20ºC, cloudy intervals and the possibility of isolated showers.

"The gestation of a Dana in the Gulf of Cadiz will cause very unstable weather in the southwest quadrant of the peninsula, although as we indicated on Monday, everything indicates that its evolution will be around North Africa and that the anticyclone will move in midweek, the skies will become clearer and the temperatures will rise, but we have to keep track", explained Lluís Francés, the Regional Weatherman in Alicante.

Things are shaping up slightly more favourably for Wednesday October 12, a 'festivo' in Spain, a national holiday for the annual Spanish Day ('Día de la Hispanidad'). According to Aemet, the bank holiday will be a rather cool day, with moderate winds from the south, cloudy intervals, but more sunny spells. Some afternoon precipitation is not ruled out, but it should be significantly drier with temperatures on the rise from Thursday onwards.

More news: Valencia Government grants 10M euros for flood reinforcements in the Vega Baja, Alicante province

Image: Mastral Project

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