Spain: Two dead after heavy rain triggers flash floods
Sep 04, 2023
Madrid [Spain], September 4: Two people lost their lives after a flash flood triggered following heavy rains in Spain, reported Al Jazeera.
The floods forced the closure of Madrid metro lines and high-speed rail links.
According to the head of the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, these two people died in the Toledo province due to heavy storm.
People sought refuge on the roofs of their homes in Toledo, which is 50 km southwest of Madrid. Moreover, helicopters were sent there to rescue these people, reported Al Jazeera.
Moreover, the Spanish media said that a man was found dead by police during the rescue operation on a road near Bargas.
Whereas, another man died as rescuers tried to reach him in the tow of Casarrubios del Monte.
According to state weather office Aemet, the weekend storm affected almost the whole country, with the heaviest rains recorded on Sunday in the coastal provinces of Cadiz, Tarragona and Castello.
The sudden rain lashes on Sunday and Monday transformed streets into mud rivers that swept away cars and rubbish bins in Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia and Valencia regions.
Moreover, according to Al Jazeera, many areas reported hail as well.
Later, a spokesperson from Madrid’s emergency services, Javier Chivite, told Spanish television broadcaster RTVE, said that the emergency services were looking for a man who went missing after his car was swept away on Monday by a flooded river in the rural area of Aldea del Fresno west of Madrid.
Furthermore, the firefighters found his 10-year-old son on the top of a tree.
“The poor boy spent the night perched in a tree,” the head of the regional government of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso said.
Moreover, the rainfall is expected to be stronger in some areas on Monday.
However, the National Weather Agency lowered the alert level to yellow from orange and red on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.
the Metro de Madrid subway operator said in a statement that several lines were closed in central Madrid on Monday. However, the service was re-established in most of the city during the morning, and only a few stations near the Manzanares River were still closed around noon.
