The bloody storm ends with two dead, one missing and hundreds of rescues

BarcelonaThe violent storm that has hit a good part of Catalonia with force this weekend has left a toll of two fatalities, one missing young man and more than 200 rescues of trapped people, in addition to numerous material damages and many disruptions to the country's mobility. About twenty counties have been on maximum alert and the Government has restricted mobility and activities to minimize risks. Even so, two men have died and another remains missing; they have been searching for him all day, but they have not been successful and the search operation will continue this Monday at daylight. It is a young man from Pineda de Mar who allegedly approached to look at the stream, slipped and was dragged by the water, which was coming down with force spurred by the torrential rains.

Despite the numerous alerts that have been sent throughout the weekend and the restrictions decreed by the Government, the episode has resulted in at least two deaths. Early in the morning, a 65-year-old man died in Tordera due to the collapse of a wall at the Caravaning Internacional Costa Brava campsite, which gave way and seriously injured him, according to sources from the Generalitat Fire Department. Despite the various resuscitation efforts, nothing could be done to save his life. The second fatality occurred in Montornès del Vallès, where emergency personnel found the lifeless body of a man in a flooded parking lot. The victim's associates were missing him and they were working with the hypothesis that there was a person inside.

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, traveled this Sunday afternoon to Montornès del Vallès to check on the ground the effects of this weekend's storm and met with the family of the deceased man, to whom he conveyed his condolences. At 9 p.m. on Sunday, the president confirmed that the last restrictions that remained active in Alt and Baix Empordà due to a storm unusual for the large amount of water accumulated in a large part of Catalonia were being lifted. The heavy storms have forced the Generalitat Firefighters to carry out up to 2,440 operations, including 226 rescue services, an exceptional figure. For this Monday, possible scattered rains are still expected on the coast, the pre-coastal area, and the entire northeastern part of Catalonia.

This Monday, rescue efforts for the young man missing in Pineda de Mar will also continue. The Firefighters and the Mossos d'Esquadra have been searching for him since early in the morning, when a witness alerted that a person had fallen into the stream and had been dragged by the current into the sea. There is no record of any missing person report having been filed, but there was a second person who saw it. The Firefighters have inspected the course of the stream throughout the day with six crews, with the support of the underwater group and drones from the aerial unit. A Maritime Rescue helicopter, a Mossos boat, and Civil Guard agents on foot have also participated.

Floods in hospitals and power outages

The storm has left a flood at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, nearly 2,000 residents without power in various neighborhoods, and all parks and gardens closed during the day as a precaution. Civil Protection explained that this Sunday morning there were 16,000 users who did not have electricity supply in Catalonia, a figure that was reduced to 14,000 by the afternoon.

Barcelona City Council has reviewed the more than 300 educational centers in the city and finally, all will be able to return to their routine normally this Monday. However, the start of the week will not be normal for everyone outside the capital and at least nine educational centers will be closed this Monday. Specifically, two schools, four high schools, two adult education centers (CFA), and an Official School of Languages (EOI) in Maresme, Barcelonès, Vallès Oriental, and Vallès Occidental.

They are the Bellavista-Joan Camps i Giró School, in Les Franqueses del Vallès; the Guerau de Liost School, in the same municipality; the Ramon Turró i Darder High School in Malgrat de Mar; the Mercè Rodoreda High School in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat; the Professional Institute of Equestrian Tourism of Maresme in Santa Susanna; the Mediterrània High School in El Masnou, and the CFA Vallès, in Granollers, and Jaume Tuset, in Ripollet. And also the Official School of Languages of Vallès Oriental.

The storm has also had a major impact on the country's mobility, both in the various railway services and on roads and the airport. At 10 p.m. there are still traffic closures and sections of roads affected by flooding and landslides, and two Rodalies lines, the northern section of the R1 and the R11, will not be able to resume service early Monday morning due to the damage caused by the rain.

There will also be disruptions on the R2 North and R4 North lines, which will operate on a single track in some sections due to landslides. In the Plaça Catalunya tunnel, teams continue to work with pumps to remove the accumulated water, and it will not be known until early tomorrow morning whether it will be operational, although the forecast is that it will not end up causing problems for traffic.