A 102-year-old woman died in a flash flood in the Spanish town of Madrigalás, in the province of Albacete. Around 90 people were rescued or evacuated after torrential rains quickly flooded the town.
According to local authorities, 142 liters of rain fell in the area. The water reached one meter in the old woman's home, where she was found. Rescue services carried out around 90 operations in the second half of Friday and early in the night, mainly to evacuate people from flooded houses.
Many reports from frightened residents
Regional authorities have received numerous calls from residents of Madrigalás. “People were scared and didn't know what to do”, authorities said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased and support for the injured. On Saturday, the president of the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano Garcia-Paje, arrived at the scene. The Civil Guard continued its work to eliminate the consequences of the flood.
Warnings in several areas
Heavy rainfall was also recorded in the provinces of Tarragona and Castellón. An orange weather code was in force in Tarragona, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Murcia and the provinces of Almeria, Granada and Albacete.
The bad weather is expected to spread to other parts of Spain over the weekend, with a storm possible in the west of the country on Sunday.
The Madrigals flood is the latest severe weather incident in Spain in recent months. In mid-August, two women died and two minors were injured in a flash flood and landslide in the province of Leon. Earlier that month, forest fires forced the evacuation of around 800 people.
Sources: European Truth, Euronews