Heavy rains cause outages in the Barcelona metro and ring roads and flood streets in Badalona | News from Catalonia

has activated the alert for risk of flooding in the metropolitan area of ​​Barcelona and particularly in the city of Badalona, ​​where the persistent rain has been causing problems since early afternoon. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia has issued that more than 100 liters per square meter can accumulate in the northern area of ​​the Barcelona metropolitan area, especially in Badalona. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has called for “extreme caution” and “avoiding unnecessary travel and flood-prone areas.”

Until seven in the afternoon, some metro stations have been affected by water leaks and minor flooding on the tracks. On the Ronda Litoral, the B-10 highway, traffic has been cut off near Santa Coloma de Gramenet in the north direction due to accumulation of water, which is causing serious traffic problems throughout the area. In the metro there are several incidents, with cuts in L3 and in some L2 stations.

In the city of Badalona, ​​the Màgic shopping center has suffered damage when some windows broke. Many streets in the coastal area of ​​the town have also been flooded as the sewage network could not cope.

The mayor of Badalona, ​​Xavier García Albiol, has recommended that the population not go out into the streets if it is not necessary, and has pointed out that, despite the fact that municipal services are working, “there are situations of collapse in many parts of the city.” Through social networks he has said that “the metro has had to be closed”, which only goes to the Artigues stop (L2), in Sant Adrià de Besòs (Barcelona), and that an apartment in the Llefià neighborhood has had to be evacuated due to the detachment of a false ceiling, although those affected are being cared for by the city council’s social services and will spend the night in a hotel.

Albiol said that at 3:39 p.m. he received a warning about heavy rain from the Generalitat of Catalonia, although there is no evidence that any ESAlert was sent. “If the alarm has not reached the phones, it is not a question over which we have the power to decide,” said Albiol, pointing to the Generalitat. “Alarms have been sent other times and it has not rained and now that we needed it, it has not been sent,” said Albiol.

Many residents of Badalona have also complained through social media that the dirt and leaf litter accumulated in the sewer has meant that the water has not been able to drain properly. Albiol has responded by stating that the wind of recent days has accelerated the fall of leaves and that not all of them have been able to be collected.

Badalona has recorded more than 300 of the 500 incidents that have been reported in Catalonia during the afternoon of this Tuesday. The deputy director of Civil Protection Programs of the Generalitat, Sergio Delgado, said on TV3 that the rain front has moved south, but that at 8:15 p.m. there is still “a significant queue of incidents” in Badalona, ​​which has registered 120 liters per square meter (l/m2), although without any personal injuries. In this sense, it has confirmed that there have been cuts in the electricity supply in some areas of Badalona, ​​but that it is working in coordination with the distribution company to solve this incident as soon as possible.

The deputy director of Civil Protection Programs has asked for “a lot of caution” in the next few hours along the entire coastline of Barcelona and Tarragona given that, as already happened on Monday, the rains recorded do not correspond to those indicated by the meteorological models. He has said that it is a “very erratic” rain phenomenon, in the sense of uncertainty, unpredictability” and has asked citizens to check the weather situation carefully before traveling.