A "surprise" storm punishes the Vallès and the Barcelonès

BarcelonaWith the Catalan coast and pre-coastal area still recovering from the effects of the weekend's downpour, the storm has once again punished Barcelona and its surroundings this Monday with another extremely strong storm that caught everyone by surprise and at times created situations of real danger. The Minister of Interior herself, Núria Parlon, has acknowledged that the situation caught them off guard because, although a situation of atmospheric instability was expected, an episode of this magnitude was not anticipated. In addition to numerous ravages, the downpours have left two people missing whom emergency teams are continuing to search for.

The fact that the unpredictability of the storm and the most intense rains were concentrated in the early morning hours has multiplied the incidents in some of the most populated areas of the country. The downpour was especially difficult to handle for a terrain saturated by the liters and liters of water absorbed in the last few days. Cities like Granollers –one of the epicenters of the storm– have accumulated almost 350 liters per square meter since Saturday. In Barcelona, more than 200 liters have also fallen in the last few days. And the forecast is that in the coming days there will be even more rain throughout the country.

The torrential downpours, which have once again pushed the flow of some rivers to the limit, have caused a multitude of incidents. The 112 emergency number has received more than a thousand calls during a morning in which firefighters have had to rescue 44 people, many of whom were trapped in vehicles. Mobility has once again suffered the effects of a storm that has left a good part of the Rodalies service out of operation for hours and has also forced the closure of several roads, including the Ronda de Dalt. It is the fourth time in a few weeks that it has been necessary to close part of this key artery for entering and leaving Barcelona. The metro network has also been affected by the rain, with several cuts on different lines that lasted until the afternoon.

With the rainwater tanks working at full capacity to avoid flooding on the city's streets, the worst part of the storm in the Catalan capital was once again borne by mountain neighborhoods like Torre Baró or Sant Genís dels Agudells. In total, about fifty landslides of varying intensity have been registered. In La Font del Gos, six houses were even evacuated preventively to avoid further harm.

In addition to mobility, heavy rains have also caused many problems in essential services such as schools and hospitals. In the Catalan capital, around thirty educational centers have suffered significant damage and two have had to suspend their activity. This Tuesday, three educational centers will not be able to open due to damage from the storm. These are two adult education centers –the Jaume Tuset in Ripollet and the Vallès in Granollers– and the El Garbí nursery school in Sant Adrià de Besòs.

Regarding health centers, the greatest impact has been at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, where it was necessary to relocate several services, without having to stop any of them. Also, at the Blanes Hospital, the radiology area for magnetic resonance imaging was partially affected, and the Josep Trueta in Girona has its helicopter based at the hospital center affected.

The electrical grid has also suffered the ravages of the water. At six in the evening, there were still more than 10,000 residents without power in the regions of Barcelonès, Vallès Oriental, Vallès Occidental, Maresme, and Baix Llobregat.

Two missing persons

Emergency teams are currently focusing on the search for two people who went missing during the storm. The first is a young man who reportedly slipped this Sunday into a ravine in Pineda de Mar. Two independent witnesses give "total plausibility" to this version, assured the President of the Government, Salvador Illa. The search, which began on Sunday and continued this Monday, is focused on combing the coast of Pineda, as the ravine was very close to the sea. Police sources point out that no missing person report has been filed yet. According to the same sources, this does not mean that his disappearance is not real. The hypothesis that this person might have managed to get out on his own is also not ruled out.

The second disappearance being investigated by the police is that of a 12-year-old boy who went missing on Saturday night in Granollers. His name is Rami, he is 1.73 meters tall, and the police have shared a photograph of him to ask for the public's help. He is a boy with autism who, according to sources consulted by ARA, was frightened by the thunder and ran out of the house. The same sources point out that he had done so on other occasions.

Catastrophic zone and €75M

Given this scenario, the Minister of Interior, Núria Parlon, announced this Monday that the Government is considering asking the State executive to declare the municipalities affected by the recent downpours as a catastrophe zone.

Furthermore, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has announced that the executive council will approve this Tuesday an initial package of extraordinary aid for those affected by the torrential rains, with a total amount of 75 million euros. Of this, 20 million will be direct subsidies to the town councils so they can repair damaged municipal facilities, buildings, and infrastructure.