Flash floods in Catalonia: a man dies dragged by a stream in the Garraf

BarcelonaA man has died after being swept away by a stream in Garraf amidst the heavy rainstorm in Catalonia. The Generalitat Fire Department located his lifeless body at midnight, about 500 meters from where they found his car, in an accessible area, and recovered the body. According to a witness, a vehicle had become stuck in the stream and a person tried to get out, ending up being swept away by the current.

The Fire Department activated a device with ten units after 11 PM that ended up locating the victim. The Mossos have confirmed that it was the driver of the car.

Mobility problems

The storm has caused a very difficult 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. The torrential rain has also 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 towards Mataró, where cars have been seen trapped by the floods. All of this has created 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.

Apart from the roads, the rainfall also hindered rail traffic yesterday. Delays of up to half an hour accumulated, which are still dragging on this Thursday because there are still several "spot" speed restrictions. This is happening on the R4, where there has also been a new copper cable theft between Castellbisbal and Molins de Rei, and delays of about 30 minutes are being recorded. There are also problems on the R2, R2Nord, and R11 lines. On these lines, traffic is interrupted between the Sant Andreu and Montcada i Reixac stations. According to Adif, the heavy rains have washed away the ballast (the stones under the tracks) and other materials, and workers are now working to replace it. Meanwhile, Renfe has planned alternative road transport. This area is close to the place where a sinkhole appeared last July that swallowed a crane.

Furthermore, yesterday's rains flooded the pits of the Sant Andreu Comtal workshop, which is used as a maintenance base for regional trains. Renfe has explained that workers have been working since early morning to drain the accumulated water, check for possible damage, and restore normality "to avoid affecting mid-distance service in the coming days".

In parallel, yesterday, during the downpours, some metro stations had to be closed momentarily due to water accumulation, such as Sant Andreu, Fabra i Puig, and Trinitat Vella on Line 1. This morning, the central platform at Fabra i Puig remains out of service, and some lines like the L4 and L11 are still experiencing problems.

Regarding El Prat airport, up to 23 flights have been cancelled due to the rain last night. Furthermore, 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 how the rain caused part of a false ceiling to collapse in the pediatric nephrology ward, although no impact on patients has been reported 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 electricity company Endesa have 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 electricity supply that affected 7,696 users. Once this moment passed, which lasted a short time, service was restored for the majority of those affected.

The changing scenario has meant that throughout Wednesday 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 the Anoia, where Civil Protection has also warned of the risk of hail, wind gusts exceeding 90 km/h, downbursts, and tornadoes.

Previously, the storm had made itself felt strongly in the Gironès region, where the rains have 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 rains that exceed this threshold in the area and has alerted that the downpours are very static. In some cases they were accompanied by hail. The Firefighters have registered about fifty services between three and eight in the afternoon, most of them in Girona, due to leaks and water accumulations. 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 have also been some notable figures, such as the 22.9 liters in Vielha.

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

Civil Protection Tips

Civil Protection reminds citizens of basic self-protection advice in the event of torrential rain, such as reducing travel as much as possible and trying to avoid flood-prone areas and crossing rivers and streams. In fact, at 6:15 p.m., 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 at Cornellà de Terri has been exceeded with a maximum flow of 17 cubic meters per second, although the water volume subsequently dropped to 5.22.

The deputy director of Prevention at 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 hours of the night, and he requested that people 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 monitor the rain episode.