The Generalitat of Catalonia, through Civil Protection, sent an EsAlert message to the inhabitants of , in the south of Tarragona and bordering the Valencian Community, at six in the afternoon, given the heavy rains in the area and the risk of flooding. At eight in the afternoon, the warning for “torrential rains” has also been extended to Baix Ebre, Ribera d’Ebre, Baix Camp and Tarragonès. It is requested to restrict mobility as much as possible and avoid areas of rivers, streams and ravines. The Inuncat plan has been launched and calls are made to call 112 in case of emergency. The Meteocat service has raised its warning level for the area to red and has raised the level of danger of the rain to 6, on a scale of 0 to 6.
The Department of Education of the Generalitat has suspended activity in the educational centers of 5 regions of Tarragona for this Monday – Montsià, Baix Ebre, Ribera d’Ebre, Baix Camp and Terra Alta – due to the forecast of worsening rains.
This decision has been made following the recommendations of Civil Protection, the department he leads has reported. In addition, all educational personnel who must travel have been asked to follow the mobility restriction recommendations.
The Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, appeared at 9:30 p.m. this Sunday to ask the population for “maximum caution.” He has spoken of a “state of emergency” due to “a meteorological phenomenon that is very difficult to predict, in terms of intensity.” The Mas de Barberans Meteocat station registered 187 liters until nine at night, while that of the Ports National Park exceeded 96 liters. In Les Cases d’Alcanar, whose streets appeared submerged under water, 34 liters have fallen.
In inland municipalities such as Godall or Santa Bàrbara, tense situations have been experienced, with the streets turned into rivers of runaway water. The force of the flood has swept away everything in its path. Social networks have been filled with videos and photos with neighbors alarmed by the amount of water accumulated in streets in which cars were seen half submerged, in some cases barely showing their roofs.
The Civil Protection service indicates that the peak of services is occurring from 7:30 p.m. The Firefighters have received more than a thousand calls, especially after six in the afternoon, when the effects of the heavy rainfall began to be felt. The head of operations, Cristina Vicente, has indicated that the situation in Montsià is “complicated.” There is no evidence, however, of people injured or swept away by the water. But the alert call remains in place, considering that the rains will continue for the next few hours and will even extend to the rest of the Catalan coast, where Meteocat predicts heavy rains during the day on Monday. Renfe has suspended train traffic between Barcelona and Valencia “derived from the red notice issued by the AEMET” throughout the Mediterranean corridor.
In Terres de l’Ebre, vehicle traffic has also been restricted on the AP7 motorway between Freginals and Ulldecona. There are cuts on the N-340 between Amposta and Alcanar, the C-12 in Tortosa, on the T-331 between Ulldecona and Santa Bàrbara and the TP-3311 between Santa Bàrbara and La Sènia, among other roads.
The municipalities of Alcanar and La Ràpita are suffering significant flooding due to the overflowing of ravines. The Ebro Hydrographic Confederation has warned this Sunday of the high possibility of significant sudden floods in minor channels and ravines in the lower section of the Ebro River, due to the intense rains that may occur this Sunday in the regions of Montsiá, Baix Ebre, Ribera d’Ebre, Priorat and Terra Alta (Tarragona).
As reported by 112 in a note in ‘X’, collected by Europa Press, the majority of notices received have occurred in Montsià (86.93%), Baix Ebre (7.07%) and Tarragonès (1.77%).
The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has asked for “maximum caution”, to avoid unnecessary trips and to follow the indications due to the forecast of these rains.
The heavy rainfall is the effect of the passage of the Dana Alicewhich during the weekend has hit the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and Murcia, as well as Catalonia, with dozens of incidents and two hundred people evicted.
