Storm Adam in Spain: at least four dead in floods
Torrential rain has flooded Valencia and the Costa Blanca. Pego recorded more than 620 litres per square metre in 24 hours. The storm is now moving towards Catalonia.
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At least four people have died in floods caused by Storm Adam – the season's first named cut-off low (DANA) – on Spain's Mediterranean coast. A woman drowned while swimming in Sagunto on Sunday evening. In Oliva, the Military Emergency Unit found a 79-year-old woman dead in her ground-floor home, and a 64-year-old man died of cardiac arrest at a campsite. In Malgrat de Mar near Barcelona, a 35-year-old woman was swept away by a stream; her body was found at sea.
Pego in Alicante province recorded 620.6 litres per square metre in 24 hours – close to the all-time record of 817 litres set in Oliva in 1987. Ibiza airport measured 173.8 litres on 18 October, its highest daily total since records began in 1944. At the peak, some 145 municipalities were under confinement orders, according to the Olive Press; about 15 helicopters and 700 personnel were deployed. According to Euronews, there were more than 400 rescues in the Valencia region.
Most restrictions were lifted by Monday afternoon; eight municipalities remained under confinement. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the national emergency coordination centre in Madrid, and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska cut short a trip to Qatar. Weather agency Aemet warned of up to 100 litres per square metre in under 12 hours in parts of Barcelona and Girona.