Floods in eastern Spain: around 2,000 evacuated in Oliva
Heavy rain has caused floods in Spain's Mediterranean provinces of Valencia and Alicante, with about 2,000 people evacuated from campsites in Oliva. Two people died in storms over the weekend.
Roads, homes and campsites have been flooded in the Valencia and Alicante provinces on Spain's Mediterranean coast after heavy rainfall, Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported on Monday, 19 October. Over the weekend, storms on the Spanish mainland claimed the lives of two people.
The situation is most serious in the coastal town of Oliva, roughly 70 kilometres south of Valencia. About 2,000 people were evacuated from seven campsites there, and firefighters rescued residents from flooded buildings. Some people were trapped inside buildings, while others waited for help on rooftops.
Oliva's mayor, Yolanda Pastor, told the private TV channel Antena 3 that many people are still trapped in their homes. Authorities urged residents of the worst-hit areas, in southern Valencia province and northern Alicante province, to stay indoors where possible.
Rainfall totals
Data from AEMET, Spain's state meteorological service, show that more than 530 millimetres of rain fell in Oliva within 24 hours. In Pego, a municipality in Alicante province, rainfall was slightly above 620 millimetres. Classes were cancelled in schools in more than 40 municipalities across the Valencia and Alicante provinces.
Balearic Islands
The situation in Mallorca has remained calm, although the highest, red alert level was declared overnight. Rescue services recorded only three minor incidents, which have since been resolved. In total, 16 incidents were reported across the Balearic Islands, 11 of them on Ibiza and two on Formentera. As a precaution, schools on all the islands cancelled classes on Monday.
Meteorologists forecast that rain in the Valencia and Alicante provinces and the Balearic Islands will gradually ease and move north towards Catalonia.
