November 03, 2015•Update: November 03, 2015
by Alyssa McMurtry
MADRID
A fierce weather system ripped across Spain over the last few days, killing at least 4 people.
A high alert declared on Monday continued as the freaky weather system brought intense rains, strong winds and waves over six and a half meters into southern Spain.
The southern and eastern provinces of Andalucía and Catalonia were the hardest hit.
In parts of coastal Andalucía, a storm of this magnitude hasn’t been recorded since 1995.
In Lledia, Catalonia, 4 senior citizens died after their nursing home flooded early Tuesday morning. The nursing home was located next to a river on a flood plain and authorities are currently looking into whether or not the owners of the building had permission to construct the residential building there.
According to some eye witnesses, the building was filled with flood waters in a matter of minutes when the river Sió overflowed with the intense rainfall. The victims were sleeping on the ground floor and the waters quickly reached over two meters of depth inside the building, witnesses also reported.
In the worst effected region of Catalonia, over 42 liters of rain fell in one square meter in less than 30 minutes. Winds that reached 100 km/hour from time to time increased the destruction and brought down many trees.
The storm left over 10,000 people without electricity and prevented major operations in Barcelona port.
In Andalucía, seafront promenades flooded, bars on the beach were destroyed and flights in and out of the Malaga airport were delayed.
The storm is referred as the worst in the past 10 years by local media as Spanish authorities fear a greater death toll in remote areas.
