The storm punishes Barcelona puts five more regions on alert

BarcelonaThe storm has caused a very complicated night in Catalonia, especially in the Barcelona area. At 9:30, the Government sent an Es-Alert to phones in the Barcelonès and Maresme regions warning of the risk of flash floods. Torrential rain caused mobility problems in the Catalan capital, where it was necessary to close the Ronda de Dalt in both directions and the B-20. Also in Santa Coloma de Gramenet in the direction of Mataró due to flooding. All this has generated a very difficult situation on the roads. At eleven o'clock, the Government sent an Es-Alert message to five more regions —Baix Llobregat, Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès, Garraf, and Vallès Occidental— warning of the risk of heavy downpours. By 11:30, firefighters had accumulated almost 200 alerts due to the storm.

Beyond the roads, rainfall is also hindering rail traffic. Renfe has reported that the R2, R3, and R4 lines may accumulate up to twenty minutes of delay because weather conditions are forcing trains to run at lower speeds. On the R4, service has been interrupted between Fabra i Puig and Montcada Bifurcació. It has also been necessary to temporarily close some metro stations due to water accumulation, such as Sant Andreu, Fabra i Puig, and Trinitat Vella on Line 1. Regarding El Prat airport, up to 23 flights have been cancelled due to the rains. Additionally, the company's website shows dozens of delayed flights at the same Catalan infrastructure.

Flooding at Vall d'Hebron Hospital

The downpour has also caused flooding in the basements of the three buildings of the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, which also saw rain cause part of a false ceiling to collapse in the pediatric nephrology ward, with no reports of impact on patients so far. As a precaution, there have been some transfers to other areas.

The storm—which was accompanied by lightning and thunder—has also left 570 subscribers without electricity in the Catalan capital. Sources from the electric company Endesa explained to the ACN that company workers are working to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Civil Protection indicated on the X network that at the moment of maximum intensity, the rain caused six incidents in the power supply that affected 7,696 users. Once this moment passed, which lasted a short time, the service was restored for the majority of those affected.

The changing scenario has meant that throughout the evening, warnings from the Meteorological Service of Catalonia have been issued one after another. At 8:30 p.m., the Meteorological Service of Catalonia issued a warning for violent weather with the possibility of hail larger than two centimeters, wind gusts of more than 25 meters per second, and the possibility of downbursts, tornadoes, or waterspouts in the Baix Llobregat and Garraf regions. Fifty minutes later, the warning was for the Barcelonès and Maresme, where according to Meteocat there could be torrential rains that leave more than 40 millimeters in 30 minutes. The storm is now moving towards the Alt Penedès and Anoia, where Civil Protection has also warned of the risk of hail, wind gusts exceeding 90 km/h, downbursts, and tornadoes.

Before, the storm had made its force felt in the Gironès region, where the rains left more than 40 liters per square meter in half an hour, according to Meteocat. The organization has issued a warning for the observation of intense rain exceeding this threshold in the area and has alerted that the downpours are very stationary. In some cases, they were accompanied by hail. The Fire Department has recorded about fifty service calls between three and eight in the afternoon, most of them in Girona, due to leaks and water accumulation. In Fornells de la Selva, 48.6 liters were recorded in 30 minutes.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, rain gauges showed records such as the 48.6 liters mentioned in Fornells de la Selva, 27.4 in la Bisbal d'Empordà, 26.1 in Banyoles, or 21.2 in Cassà de la Selva. In the northwest of the country, there were also some notable figures, such as the 22.9 liters in Vielha.

Where the storm has also struck with force is in Valencia, which has once again seen images of flooded streets and cars trapped on the road, and which even had to momentarily close the airport due to flooding.

Civil Protection Advice

Civil Protection reminds citizens of basic self-protection advice in the event of torrential rain, such as minimizing travel as much as possible and trying to avoid flood-prone areas and crossing rivers and streams. In fact, at 6:15 PM, the emergency management agency reported that due to persistent rain in the Girona regions, the Catalan Water Agency has issued a hydrological risk warning for the Ter basin. The alert threshold for the Terri river in Cornellà de Terri has been exceeded with a maximum flow of 17 cubic meters per second, although the volume of water subsequently decreased to 5.22.

The deputy director of Prevention for Civil Protection, Joan Ramon Cabello, explained that the Inuncat plan is activated in the alert phase and recommended that, if travel is necessary, it should preferably be done via main roads while avoiding low-lying areas, fords, and crossings with rivers and streams. The head of the Forecasting Area at Meteocat, Santi Segalà, remarked that this is a situation "limited in time," with special attention needed during the afternoon, evening, and early night hours, and asked people to consult the radars and warnings from Meteocat. "It is a day to stay alert" regarding the precipitation, he noted. Segalà also appealed to civic responsibility and recommended following official channels to track the rain episode.