Thousands forced to evacuate their homes as flash floods sweep through Malaga in Spain
Two weeks after Spain’s deadliest flooding in decades that killed more than 200 people, fresh floods have wreaked havoc again in another Spanish city. Watch the videos.
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Mammoth clean-up efforts are underway in Spain after massive floods wreaked havoc in the country.
Footage has emerged showing the damage caused by the floods, including a caravan park that has been inundated with water and an airfield where planes are surrounded by mud.
It comes after a month’s worth of rain fell in just hours on the city of Malaga on Wednesday, which forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
Streets turned into rivers as Spain was again hit by the extreme weather phenomenon known as a ‘Dana’.
It was a similar storm to the one which lashed southeastern Spain two weeks ago killing 220 people, where most of the deaths and damage occurred in Valencia.
Malaga was impacted by floods then too, but on Wednesday it found itself in the eye of the storm as deadly flash floods hit the city, surrounding towns and villages in the province and along the Costa del Sol coastline.
Some 133mm of rain fell on Wednesday 13 November (as of 4pm local time), with 80mm dumped in just one hour.
Although the fresh rains appeared to have brought limited damage, in the Malaga province, some homes were decimated by flooding after a river burst its banks in the town of Benamargosa.
Some 3,000 people living along the Guadalhorce River were forced to flee their homes as well as a further 1,100 near the Vélez River.
The town of Almogía was hit with particular virulence where the strength of the rain caused more than 140 homes to be flooded.
As it is a village on a slope, the water cascaded down many streets, causing serious problems for both parked vehicles and houses along the way.
The city of Malaga’s main hospital was forced to restrict services to emergencies only after it flooded.
Meanwhile, a striking water spout formed out at sea during the storm and was filmed by hundreds of onlookers as it moved menacingly along the coast.
Despite downgraded weather warnings on Friday, thousands of Spaniards were told not to return home as swollen riverbanks threaten to overflow.
The head of the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, Juan Moreno, said “normal conditions are not in place” despite weather returning to a calm.
Shocking videos emerged from Wednesday's flash floods, with one showing a young man struggling through flood waters where he then picks up a stranded elderly woman and carries her to safety.
Other videos showed flooding at major train stations and the airport, leaving people with nowhere to go as all public transport and taxis came to a halt.
In the hours prior, local authorities made sure to send out storm alerts to residents.
The Spanish government and regional authorities faced major backlash over its lack of preparation to the floods in Valencia where an emergency alert was sent to the phones of people in and around the city of Valencia but after flood water was already starting to swiftly rise in many areas.
Schools and many shops closed in Malaga on Wednesday in preparation for the torrential rain, with residents also warned not to leave their vehicles inside underground garages.
Emergency services in Malaga kept almost 4,000 people who were evacuated because of a flood risk out of their homes from rising river waters.
Schools closed also in the province and in different towns in Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz and Huelva impacted half a million children.
A red weather warning for heavy rain was issued on Tuesday and active from 3am on Wednesday until 12am on Thursday.
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Originally published as Thousands forced to evacuate their homes as flash floods sweep through Malaga in Spain