Rain damages 'fallas' in Valencia
During the night, firefighters have managed 671 incidents due to the downpours in the Valencian Country
ValenciaThe torrential rains that have fallen in recent hours in the Valencian Country have forced emergency teams to make overnight numerous rescues of vehicles trapped in the water. In addition, in the case of cities such as Valencia, it has caused damage and destruction in some fallas that were in the last night of plantà.
The president of the Valencian government, Ximo Puig, has visited early this morning the headquarters of the Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat, in La Eliana (Valencia), to know the evolution of these heavy rains, which only between ten and twelve o'clock last Wednesday night led the 112 emergency phone to manage 210 incidents, of which 201 were in the metropolitan area of Valencia.
Between 11 am yesterday and 7 am this morning, the emergency telephone has received 945 calls and has managed 671 incidents related to the rainfall. Most of the incidents were related to trapped vehicles and flooded garages.
On the other hand, the train service is suspended between Vinaròs (Baix Maestrat) and Tarragona, but after hours of rainfall the circulation is being normalised in all Valencian roads and there is again power throughout the network after the numerous cuts last night. The Metrovalencia network is now operating normally.
The storm, which hit the metropolitan area of Valencia and the centre of the capital with force, was accompanied by strong winds, an episode that occurred in the middle of the night of the plantà of the fallas monuments - between 11 pm and midnight was the most intense episode - and caused damage to some of them, such as the bust of the meditator of the municipal falla, in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. In fact, the councillor for Festive Culture in Valencia, Carlos Galiana, announced last night that a decision will be taken first thing this Thursday morning on the start of the jury's evaluation of the fallas, which should have been set up at 8 o'clock in the morning.
This storm left 46.4 litres per square meter at Valencia airport in just half an hour, an amount not recorded in this time period since 28 September 2012, when 58.5 litres were accumulated, and wind gusts that reached 76 kilometres per hour. According to the Valencian Association of Meteorology (Avamet), the intense lines of turbonade left by the storms have moved offshore and the weather station in Columbretes Islands (Castellón) has detected a wind gust of 174 kilometers per hour at 00.44 hours.