Catastrophic Flooding in Eastern Spain

Finished my trip just in time.

Thank you for posting. What a terrible storm. And the photo of the cars all tumbled together is chilling.

Just got a text from my sister-in-law whose daughter lives in Valencia. Our niece is safe but said it was crazy and scary.

UPDATE: Ouigo, Iryo and Renfe will have cancelled more than 100,000 tickets on high-speed trains through Sunday in the the Valencia region and along the Mediterranean corridor. The Madrid-Valencia high-speed railway line is not expected to reopen before next Monday.

Useful sites if you happen to be in Catalonia during a severe weather episode or any other kind of emergency/incident:

Emergency telephone: 1-1-2 ... they'll redirect you to Police, Fire Brigade or Ambulances be the case. Operators in several languages available.

https://meteo.cat/ -Catalan National Weather Service

https://x.com/emergenciescat -General Directorate of Civil Protection. Government of Catalonia
https://x.com/bomberscat -Firefighter Service. Government of Catalonia
https://x.com/mossos -Mossos d'Esquadra. Police of Catalonia. Government of Catalonia

https://x.com/fgc -FGC train services run by the Government of Catalonia (ie. line to Montserrat)
https://rodalies.gencat.cat/en/inici/index.html -RENFE commuting and regional services in Catalonia (Rodalies). Check the "Service Updates" at the bottom of the website

https://x.com/bcn_ajuntament - BCN City Hall. Not specifically for emergencies, but actions of the Municipal Emergency Action Plan -ie. on severe weather episodes- are announced here too. As a general rule, during very heavy rain or strong wind events, avoid public parks and stay away from the beach and waterfront promenade. The police patrol these areas to prevent reckless individuals from getting too close to the sea and risking accidents. Although it's not common, on-the-spot fines could be issued.

> Forecast for Thursday, Oct 31st
Heavy rain, with significant amounts of water, is expected in the Terres de l'Ebre area (Tarragona, Tortosa, and the Ebre River wetlands). However, it will not come close to the downpours that fell in Valencia yesterday. Caution is advised. The pre-coastal zone up to the Costa Brava, especially around Barcelona, will experience a rainy day with occasional heavy rain, but no emergencies are anticipated.

> Forecast for Friday and the following days
The DANA weather system will lose strength, and while some light rain may occur, the weather will be more stable across Catalonia.

Thankfully we have not experienced casualties in Catalonia during this violent DANA weather system but please, exercise caution if travelling around, especially if visiting the south of Catalonia / north of Valencia.

Keep safe!

PS: I should mention that the type of weather experienced in recent hours, especially in Valencia, is NOT typical—at least not with this level of intensity—along our Mediterranean coasts.

My deepest sympathy and prayers to the families and friends of all of those whose lives were lost in this horrible flooding.

I hope for a swift recovery for Spain, and I await information on how we can help contribute to support the many people who have lost everything.

I extend my sincere compassion to those affected. The full extent of this disaster has probably not yet been fully grasped.

Germany has of course offered help to our Spanish friends. Preparations are already started in case the offer of help is accepted.

The weather phenomenon, like many others in Europe, is already well known, but this one was also made worse than previously known by more available energy in the atmosphere.

World Weather Attribution (WWA) group published their study "10 years of rapidly disentangling drivers of extreme weather disasters". I recommend everybody to read and understand the key takeaways.

UPDATE:

The death toll has risen to over 150 people.

Severe weather causes partial suspensions on the R15 and R16 Rodalíes lines; N-340 road in Tarragona region also closed due to heavy rain.

N-340 motorway closed in Tarragona; traffic restricted on AP-7. Public advised to avoid driving in flood-affected areas.

Valencia City Council considers nighttime water cuts in the city to support southern municipalities hit by floods, urging citizens to conserve water responsibly.

Flood Monitoring in Seville, authorities closely monitor rising Guadaíra and Corbones rivers; road closures implemented but no serious incidents reported.

Madrid-Valencia high-speed train line and several commuter routes heavily damaged in Valencia region; repairs expected to take weeks to months.

Renfe, Ouigo, and Iryo provide ticket refunds or rescheduling options as the Madrid-Valencia route remains closed until mid-November or later.

The General Directorate of Traffic urges people to avoid travel to Valencia during the long weekend due to extensive road closures and hazardous conditions.

sources:
https://elpais.com/espana/2024-10-31/ultima-hora-de-la-dana-en-directo.html

https://elpais.com/economia/2024-10-31/oscar-puente-la-alta-velocidad-madrid-valencia-no-estara-al-menos-en-dos-o-tres-semanas-pero-es-mucho-mas-grave-la-situacion-de-cercanias.html

Carlos and Enric, thank you for helping to keep us all informed. The photos and local accounts are devastating.

Thank you, Carlos, for helping us to stay informed.

And thank you, Enric, for the emergency information. That could be invaluable. I am sure we have forum members traveling in these areas.

I am stunned at the death toll.

Did the authorities not realize the strength of the storm and provide warnings, or did folks just not heed them?

1. The warning system had been dismantled by a previous local government as a budget measure.

2. Central Valencia didn’t suffer catastrophic damage due to channeling of the river in the city. However, this had repercussions for the surrounding villages.

Per a France Culture interview with a specialist this morning.
Finally as we know, it was 1 year of rain in a short period.

No, that´s not true. They had dismantled the Valencia Emergency Unit, not the warning system. which was sent by the AEMET (Spanish Meteorological Agency) well ahead of time. But the regional government sent its warning to all mobile phones two hours late, as it seems.

UPDATE:

Red warning lifted in Huelva and orange warning lifted in Tarragona and Castellón

The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has lifted the red warning or maximum alert that has been in place since early morning in Huelva at 3:00 p.m. In addition, neither Castellón nor Tarragona are now under orange warning, the second on a scale of three, a warning level that is maintained in Huelva and the Balearic Islands.

Aemet calls for “great caution” in the Balearic Islands in view of the forecast of “large amounts of rain” for the next few hours

The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) is asking for extreme caution in the Balearic Islands because “storms are beginning to build up and can leave large amounts of rain in short periods of time. In addition, these showers could also be persistent.” Given the danger of sudden flooding of the gullies, it is asking the population to stay away from flood-prone areas, as well as ravines and gullies. Accumulations of up to 50 litres are expected in one hour. “There are areas of Mallorca, even, where 120 litres can accumulate in a few hours,”

Litres is an unusual measurement of rain.

The warning I am reading on AEMET talks of 50mm (2 inches) per hour (a more usual way to measure) with an accumulative figure in a few hours of up to 150mm (6 inches).

I am afraid it is not. Both ways to refer to the amount of rain are used on these shores, speaking about litres/hour is common in the news as this is something much more "comprehensive" for the majority of the population.

UPDATE:

Valencia-Barcelona Train Service Resumes: The Euromed rail service between Valencia and Barcelona will reopen tomorrow, with the first Renfe train leaving from Valencia at 3:02 p.m. and a second at 6:55 p.m. Two additional departures from Barcelona are scheduled at 4:10 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

Severe Weather Delays at Palma Airport: Heavy storms across the Balearic Islands caused delays exceeding two hours and some cancellations at Palma airport, which anticipates handling over 2,200 flights during the long weekend. Local authorities in Andratx and Calvià report flooding and have called for evacuations in certain areas.

Roads in Valencia Undergoing Flood Recovery: Cleanup and repair efforts on Valencia’s V31 and V30 roads are allowing partial traffic flow, with plans to install parallel lanes to manage redirected traffic from the damaged A7. Extensive mud removal and repairs continue on the A3 motorway, linking Valencia to Madrid.

Madrid-Valencia High-Speed Line still under Repairs: Transport Ministry has allocated €25 million for urgent infrastructure repairs, including plans to reopen the Madrid-Valencia high-speed line within two weeks, with ongoing cleanup and structural checks in flood-affected tunnels.

We are flying to Seville on Nov. 10th and flying out Nov 21st. Any suggestions? Should we keep our itinerary?
We have two day tours arranged - one to Cadiz and one to Carmona. But I figure it's up to the tour company to cancel those.
Sometimes when times are hard the locals don't need tourists consuming resources. Any advice?
TIA
Pat

Pat I think you should be ok in Sevilla which for the most part was spared the worst of the flooding. The really hard hit areas are on the other side of Spain on the east coast. I saw Aemet just deactivated all alerts in Andalucia. Some rainfall is expected over the weekend, but there is no forecast of major adverse phenomena that could complicate traveling.

Thank you, Carlos. That's what I wanted to hear.

We're in North Carolina. Just 4 hours west of us is Asheville where the hurricane flooding was terrible. We just had usual rain. So I know that weather that is awful in one place can be fine in another.

For those who want to see the extent of damage from before and after satellite images near Valencia:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/weather/before-after-images-spain-flooding-rain-climate/index.html

Oh. my. word.

I'm almost speechless after seeing the satellite pictures. How absolutely horrible. As of right now, I'm still planning to fly into Valencia in early January, but maybe I should reconsider?

I see death toll over 205 now. So ironic. We were in Valencia, Seville, Cadiz, etc just 4 weeks ago, and it was sunny and warm. Seville was fairly hot and everyone was buying gelato. Hard to imagine how things changed so much. However, a few years ago, I visited Madrid in January to comfortable weather, and later they had a huge snow storm that paralyzed the city. When I was I Madrid recently I was chatting to the taxi driver about the snow and he said they couldn't drive for a week.

UPDATE:

Up to 1,800 shops destroyed, 4,000-4,500 businesses damaged in Valencia region; Alaquàs, Albal, Aldaia, and nearby towns severely impacted.

Temporary detour on A-7 underway to restore connection to A-3; V-30 and V-31 undergoing extensive cleaning; gradual capacity restoration on A-3.

C1, C2, and C3 commuter lines in Valencia clearing debris, inspecting infrastructure; high-speed AVE line between Madrid and Valencia undergoing reconstruction with intensive work on tunnels.

Aemet lifts orange alert in Balearics, issues yellow alert in Andalucia; parts of Catalonia and Valencia remain under orange warning for heavy rainfall.

Pedro Sánchez confirms 211 bodies recovered. More than 2,000 still missing.

Carlos and Enric, if you have family and/or friends in the affected areas, I hope they are safe.
The devastation evident in photos is horrific, as is the rising death toll. :O(

UPDATE: CATALONIA

Sorry to hijack this thread, originally meant to discuss the catastrophic floods in València, but I thought it would be useful to update those in or heading to Catalonia -the neighbour to the north of Valencia- today or in the coming days.

If you feel anxious, don't fred, everything quickly coming back to business as usual --in the area of Catalonia, that is... in Valencia is something else, that area will take a much longer while to come back to normal

In Catalonia, we experienced a very rainy front moving from south to north across the region yesterday and today. In Barcelona, a storm brought 150 liters/m² of rain, causing a few incidents, including the temporary suspension of commuter and regional train lines, as well as a brief interruption of the high-speed rail service on the BCN-Lleida-Zaragoza-Madrid line. Barcelona Airport halted operations for a few hours, but normal service is gradually resuming, with flights now landing and taking off again.

These intense rains led to school closures and affected some hospital services, with the Catalan Government advising people to avoid unnecessary travel and work from home if possible. Fortunately, Catalonia's government safety protocols were effective, and there were no reported casualties.

As of now (around 3 pm), normalcy is returning, although some alerts remain active in certain areas of Catalonia, such as Terres de l’Ebre near the València region. More stable weather is expected starting tomorrow.

Just as in other regions, both private volunteers and professionals (firefighters, healthcare personnel, police, etc.) are being sent from Catalonia to València to assist with cleanup and rescue efforts. If you plan to travel through southern Catalonia or northern València (ie Castelló province), make sure the route you intend to use inside that region is open. In addition to some impassable roads, there are some traffic restrictions in place to prevent overwhelming the aid systems.

As always during catastrophes, many rumours and false news spread online. Even when real images are used, facts can be exaggerated or manipulated. Earlier today, on the Castelldefels highway south of Barcelona, a small section became flooded, causing a temporary halt to traffic heading towards Tarragona. Two cars got stuck, but their occupants were able to leave the vehicles safely without any harm. Just a few minutes ago, the news of the Catalan TV announced -while showing realtime images- that the road has been cleared and traffic has resumed... yet almost at the same time, a rumor was circulating on Twitter about "deaths and calamity in Castelldefels", with images portraying cars literally floating on water.

Feel free to get your news wherever you feel appropriate, if I was me, I'd stick to reputable sources. In this case, I personally recommend these local ones:

• www.meteo.cat -for weather forecast
• www.tv3.cat —for TV news, and most concretely, the news program: https://www.3cat.cat/3cat/telenoticies/ —despite your might not understand Catalan, you can still see "the images" in real-time.
• www.vilaweb.cat -for news
• www.x.com/emergenciescat

The newspaper mentioned earlier by Carlos -El Pais- while more Madrid-centric and less up-to-last-minute for events happening in Catalonia, it's also a great source of reputable information.

150 liters/m² of rain,

5.9 inches

Planning to land in Madrid 11/22, there a few days then down to Granada, over to Ronda and Seville, then back to Madrid and fly out on 12/1. Wondering whether to cancel or whether to carry on with the plan. Some rain is fine, torrential rain is not, and the trains need to be running. Plus, are tourists a hinderance at this time, even in locations without significant rain. Thoughts??

Texas Jack

Texas Jack, that is still a month away but I don't think you need to cancel as the areas you are traveling to were not too impacted by the rains.

We’re seeing reports of the after effects, the health emergency due to contamination..
Do you have links to organizations you recommend to which readers can contribute funds?

Mayors in my area are sending two trucks on Friday. However, most disaster areas ask for financial donations to purchase needed goods. The French news reports make it clear that it’s not over for those involved. In addition to loss, the brewing health situation is ominous.

Thank you Carlos. Our flight departs in 16 days, so not that far away, and if we are going to cancel anything we need to be thinking about it. Sounds like all is OK where we are traveling, so on we go.

UPDATE:

Latest on the situation in Valencia region:

Death toll
Since the Multiple Victims Procedure was activated, the balance according to the latest data confirmed by the security forces at this time, and provisionally, the number of fatalities remains at 211 people. The process of collecting and identifying the victims continues.

Weather forecast
The yellow alert for rain on the southern coast of the province of Valencia and the northern coast of the province of Alicante has ended, and there is no longer any warning in force in the Valencian Community.

Electricity and water supply
98% of the electricity supply has been restored and 93% of the affected population now has access to water. The use of bottled water is recommended for human consumption, but the rest can be used for cleaning.

Roads cut off

In Castellon:
- CV-134, La Salzadella
- CV-137, Calig
- CV-1486, El Borseral

In Valencia:
- A-7 between Quart de Poblet and Torrent
- N-3, San Juan and Seven Waters
- CV-33, Torrent
- CV-36, from Picanya to the junction with the A-7.
- CV-50, Chiva

Source: https://elpais.com/espana/2024-11-05/ultima-hora-de-la-dana-en-directo.html

Do you have links to organizations you recommend to which readers can contribute funds?

Famous Spanish chef José Andrés' humanitarian group 'World Central Kitchen' has been on the ground in Valencia providing aid. Here's their website if you would like to support - https://donate.wck.org/campaign/637262/donate#!/donation/checkout?c_src=homepage-slider-11-4

UPDATE:

The Government announces that the high-speed train line between Madrid and Valencia will be re-established by this Thursday (10/14). In addition, the A-7 motorway is expected to be operational on Wednesday and the N-330 on Monday.

Additionally AEMET has issued a warning for a cold air mass moving from northern Europe toward Spain, likely forming a cold front around the Mediterranean by midweek and bringing heavy rainfall. Starting Tuesday, rain is expected along the Mediterranean, with intense precipitation anticipated in the Balearic Islands, Valencian region, and parts of southern Catalonia. The Valencian Government has alerted to potential heavy rain, storms, and even snowfall, with rainfall possibly reaching up to 200 liters per square meter in some parts. The storm is projected to shift westward by Saturday.

Source: https://elpais.com/espana/2024-11-10/ultima-hora-de-la-dana-en-directo.html

200 liters per square meter

8 inches.
https://rechneronline.de/litre/precipitation.php

Carlos, thank you for the ongoing updates. It feels somehow wrong and trivial to be thinking about my vacation and whether or not I'll be able to get from point A to point B in January when so many are suffering deeply, yet realistically I know I do need to think about this and it would be better to make changes to my plans sooner rather than later if necessary.