The Junta de Andalucía has ordered throughout the afternoon and late night of this Tuesday the eviction of 3,000 people in different areas of the provinces of Cádiz, Málaga and Jaén due to the high risk that they will be affected by significant floods of water due to the storm. Leonardo, starting at 11 p.m. There are already 250 soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) deployed in the provinces of Huelva, Granada and Cádiz, to alleviate the effects of the storm and guarantee the safety of the population.
The Andalusian Government has sent different Es-Alert messages to warn the population. The first was launched at 8:23 p.m. in the 47 municipalities that make up the meteorological regions of Grazalema. Shortly after, at 9:07 p.m. a new notice was sent to the area of Los Puentes, in Jaén, to report the rise of the Eliche, Quiebrajano and Guadalbullón rivers, in addition to recommending moving away from the most flood-prone areas and any riverbed.
At mid-morning, President Juan Manuel Moreno announced the suspension of classes in all educational centers in the community except Almería where the Aemet has activated an orange and red warning due to heavy rainfall throughout the community. The popular leader has warned, after chairing the meeting of the advisory committee of the territorial Emergency plan, that a red warning has been activated in the Sierra de Grazalema, Ronda and Campo de Gibraltar and that there is a risk of flooding in the countryside of Jerez, Jaén and Guadalhorce-Costa del Sol and that the rest of the community is at a yellow, orange or red alert level due to rain, wind and flooding. “Andalusia is facing an exceptional situation,” Moreno warned, in which “two atmospheric rivers will be experienced for the remainder of the week.” “As Aemet itself warns us, this atmospheric river is going to leave a concentration of rain that is practically unprecedented in Andalusia,” he stressed.
Given this situation, the Board has decided to raise the Emergency operational phase to 2 which, as Moreno has said, “allows the UME to be prepositioned for the control of mining ponds in Huelva and Seville” and for “possible water rescues together with the Civil Guard.” With this level of emergency, the Board is empowered to incorporate extraordinary means from other administrations to the device it already has in place. In the case of the UME, this will allow, the president has advanced, that “we will not have to wait, as often happens, the four or five hours that this unit needs to mobilize, but rather we will already have it positioned, prepared to act.”
Late in the afternoon, the Ministry of Defense confirmed the deployment of 250 troops and specialized vehicles in the provinces of Huelva, Cádiz and Granada. The operation is made up of units from the First Emergency Intervention Battalion, based in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), and the Second Battalion, based in Morón de la Frontera (Seville), Miguel González reports. The team is prepared to deal with rescue and rescue tasks, engineering and debris removal, water management, air and logistical support for the local population.
After eight in the afternoon, 47 municipalities in the Sierra de Grazalema, the Strait and Ronda have received the ES-Alert message sent by the Junta de Andalucía. The warning warns of the need to move away from the riverbeds, avoid travel and look for “high areas” if you are in a flood-prone area. Sending this alert to all areas that were on red notice was one of the measures announced by President Moreno this Tuesday morning.
The municipalities that have received this alert are the fifteen in the Grazalema meteorological region: Alcalá del Valle, Algodonales, Benaocaz, El Bosque, El Gastor, Grazalema, Jimena de la Frontera, Olvera, Prado del Rey, Puerto Serrano, Setenil de las Bodegas, Torre Alhámique, Ubrique, Villaluengo del Rosario and Zahara. In addition to the six in the Strait of Cadiz: Algeciras, Los Barrios, Castellar de la Frontera, La Línea de la Concepción, San Roque and Tarifa; while in the Serranía de Ronda there have been 26: Algatocín, Alpandeire, Ardales, Arriate, Atajate, Benadalid, Benalauría, Benaoján, Benarrabá, El Burgo, Cartajima, Cortes de la Frontera, Cuevas del Becerro, Faraján, Gaucín, Genalguacil, Igualeja, Jimera de Líbar, Jubrique, Júzcar, Montejaque, Parauta Pujerra, Ronda, Montecorto, Serrato.
The mayor of Jerez de la Frontera, María José Pelayo, reported this afternoon that the eviction of 700 inhabitants from different parts of the town’s districts has already begun, due to the risk of significant floods of water and flooding caused by the overflowing of the Guadalete river, whose flow is already at the red level. The idea is for those affected to leave their homes before nightfall. They are joined by another 150 people who are still evacuated due to last week’s floods. Furthermore, in Campo de Gibraltar, the Jimena de la Frontera City Council has also initiated the mandatory eviction of some 42 people for the same reason, as confirmed by its councilor, Fran Gómez, and another 250 people in Los Barrios. “We live between two rivers and we have many flood-prone areas. We are acting in the rural areas and then we will decide what to do in the urban areas,” explained the mayor of Los Barrios, Miguel Alconchel.
The Jerez countryside had barely recovered from the overflow last week in various districts. After the river receded, about 500 families were able to return. However, the new rains this week have caused the riverbed to rise again, until it exceeds the red level. Faced with the threat of heavy rain, the Jerez city council has marked flood-prone streets and passages to guarantee the safety of pedestrians and vehicles in the center, and is going to suspend garbage collection and urban and interurban bus services. Additionally, it has expanded the radius of areas expected to flood in rural areas.
The Ronda City Council has also preventively evicted the residents of around twenty homes located in flood-prone areas in rural areas, close to the beds of the Guadalcobacín, Guadalevín and Guadiaro rivers. As indicated this afternoon by the mayor of the town, Mari Paz Fernández, the measure has been ordered after the red warning due to heavy rains activated by the AEMET for this Wednesday throughout the day. The Local Police have already notified the affected neighbors, who are residents in the areas of Navares and Tejares, as well as the districts of Llano de la Cruz and La Indiana.
Late in the afternoon, the evacuation of 200 residents of the Los Puentes area of Jaén who have relocated to the homes of family and friends was also ordered. The Red Cross has different areas available to house those affected who require it, as reported by the Ministry of the Presidency, Health and Emergencies.
All public universities in the provinces where the Board has decided to suspend the school day have confirmed throughout the morning that they were also paralyzing all activity on their respective campuses. The decision to suspend the school day in the entire Andalusian territory, except in the province of Almería – although the Board does not rule out extending the measure to this territory, comes after last Wednesday, families and teachers complained because the Andalusian administration had only ordered to adopt the prohibition of teaching for 77 municipalities in different regions of the provinces of Cádiz, Málaga and Almería in the face of the storm. Katrin and would not expand it to other areas where it is in many schools.
“Experts warn us that any area that has flooded in the last 50 years could flood again.
The Junta de Andalucía works with the forecast that tomorrow these areas could flood again. Furthermore, the red notice in the Sierra de Grazalema comes after recent intense rains that caused several road closures due to landslides. At the moment, Benamahoma (a district of Grazalema with 350 residents) is almost cut off, after the road that gave them access suffered two landslides.
The Seville City Council is also reinforced for when the orange notice is activated at 11 p.m. The council has decreed phase 1 of the emergency plan and has ordered the closure of parks, gardens, municipal sports facilities, and civic centers. for adults and during the day, in addition to the Alcázar. It has also reinforced the provision of firefighters, civil protection services and local police, the presence of conservation and maintenance teams for parks and gardens to deal with incidents that may occur, as well as 092, and municipal cleaning and water services. The S-20 highway, which was already closed to traffic during the passage of Storm Katrin, will also suspend traffic between 11 tonight and seven in the morning on Wednesday.
The Andalusian Government has also ordered the closure of the Ports of the province of Cádiz and Campo de Gibraltar. The Sierra Nevada ski slopes will not open this Wednesday either.
Moreno recalled how last week’s train of storms has left the rivers and swamps at maximum levels and in some cases they are in “historic floods.” In the community there are 50 reservoirs releasing water to stop the risk of flooding.
The front is expected to enter Huelva this Tuesday at 9 p.m. and discharge 120 liters per square meter in the first 12 hours. In areas like Grazalema, 500 to 700 liters per square meter could be collected between Wednesday and Thursday, the days where the greatest intensity can take place. LeonardoAccording to Moreno, he has warned the population to remain cautious and not make unnecessary trips and, in case of flooding, to stay in the highest areas of their homes.
“They are not recommendations, they are instructions that entail an administrative reproach in the form of a fine that we can assume and that is assumed once the State Security Forces and Corps consider that the rules that have been put in place are not being complied with. Always, maximum prudence, maximum serenity and at the same time maximum coordination. The president of the Board has also asked the population to follow the instructions of 112, which will change depending on how the storm evolves.
