Spain prepares to receive a new storm after the devastating passage of Leonardo

Madrid.- The Iberian peninsula is preparing to receive a new storm on Saturday after saying goodbye to storm Leonardo, which in its devastating passage has left thousands of evictions and collapses in Spain, especially in Andalusia (south), where the evacuees exceed 8,000 and a body has been located. The weather forecast indicates that the new phenomenon will bring more instability to the peninsula, especially in the west and south, areas already affected by water accumulation and rivers in danger of overflowing.

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The forecasts also consider that the weather will continue to be marked by the Atlantic circulation in both the peninsula and the Mediterranean Balearic Islands. Widespread rainfall is expected, moving from west to east and will be less abundant in the Cantabrian area (north), eastern coast and northeastern third of the peninsula.

Thousands evacuated, more than 8,000 in Andalusia

The new storm will burst into a country badly damaged by the problems caused these days by Leonardo. Despite weakening this Friday, that storm leaves more than 8,000 evictions in Andalusia alone, great concern about the rising of many rivers and a body found in the province of Malaga, where a woman disappeared on Wednesday. Emergency services located today the body, presumably, of the 45-year-old woman who fell into the Turvilla river, in Sayalonga, while trying to save her dog. In the south of the peninsula, the risk generated by the storm caused entire towns to have to be evacuated as a precaution and, in some cases, such as in the town of Grazalema, in Cádiz, its inhabitants will not be able to return to their homes for several days. In the south, the storm has also caused the closure of more than a hundred roads and has affected the operation of the railway service. Meanwhile, storm Leonardo has destabilized the level of many rivers in the country, such as the Guadalquivir, as in some sections its flow exceeded 5.5 meters, more than double the level that marks the red alert (2.5 meters). In other parts of southern Spain, it is expected that more than 60 liters per square meter will accumulate in twelve hours in the town of Grazalema today. In the case of towns like Ronda (Málaga), Cazorla and Segura (Jaén) and the southern sierra of Seville, rainfall may exceed 40 liters per square meter in twelve hours. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, traveled to Andalusia today, flying over the most damaged areas by helicopter. In a statement, Sánchez warned of the arrival of “complex days” ahead of the expected arrival of the new storm and called for “calm and prudence”.

Leonardo also floods other Spanish areas

In other parts of the west and mid-west of the peninsula, such as the region of Castile and León, 53 sections of rivers in the Duero basin remained on alert today, nine at red level (alarm) and a dozen at orange alert, with surveillance focused on the Duero as it passes through Aranda (Burgos), the Tormes in Salamanca, and the Cea and Órbigo, in León. There are another 34 sections of rivers in the Duero basin at yellow level.

In the Extremadura area (western Spain), the heavy rains gave a slight respite today, reducing the alert level on streams and rivers, including the Guadiana, whose channel stabilized, although around a thousand people remain rehoused pending the meteorological and fluvial evolution.