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Spain in a New Disaster and Deadly Storm Gloria

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Spain in a New Disaster and Deadly Storm Gloria

 

 

 

 

Powerful storm Gloria has battered much of eastern Spain.

The Balearic Islands and the region around Valencia were the worst-hit on Monday, with heavy flooding and strong winds causing havoc. More than 30 provinces in Spain were put on high alert. The storm later moved into southern France.A violent storm that has ravaged parts of Spain with heavy rain and violent winds has left at least 13 people dead.

Spanish authorities said four people were still missing after Storm Gloria triggered floods and swept away roads.On Thursday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez flew over some of the worst-hit eastern areas and visited Majorca which has been battered by huge waves. The government is to hold an emergency meeting on Friday to coordinate a response.Mr. Sanchez told reporters there would be “no scrimping on any resource or effort”.

 
Storm Gloria floods major river delta

Mr. Sanchez said climate change had played a part in the severe storm. Storm Gloria swept into the Balearic Islands – which include the holiday island of Majorca – last weekend with torrential rain whipped up by winds of 100km/h Huge waves forced some residents to evacuate their homes while rivers burst their banks and boats were torn from their moorings and washed on to beaches.

 
The storm then struck Catalonia, Valencia and the southern regions of Murcia and Andalusia with rain and snow, leaving a trail of damage in popular tourist resorts busy preparing for the holiday season.
Spanish media reported four storm-related deaths in Catalonia, five in Valencia and two in Andalusia with one in the central region of Castile and León and one in the northern region of Asturias.

Authorities said the death toll could rise further with four people still missing in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.Conditions are easing as the storm passed over the country although several rivers in the north-east burst their banks on Thursday.Storm Gloria also battered Pyrénées-Orientales, France’s southernmost Mediterranean department, which has been placed on high alert.

Catalan’s Interior Minister confirmed that 64 people had been injured in the storm as it finally looked set to ebb on Wednesday afternoon.

Schools across the region remained closed with more than 149,000 students kept at home.
After four days with red alerts across the eastern part of Spain and the The Balearic Islands, the state weather agency lowered the risk to amber and yellow warnings. Authorities said they had recorded waves of 14.8 meters in height in Menorca, beating the previous record of 13.6 off the island in 2001. Footage shows waves breaking over four-story buildings in Porto Colom in Mallorca, estimated to have reached the whooping height of 14 meters.

Meanwhile on the mainland in Catalonia, authorities warned of an “historic catastrophe” as wetlands in the Ebro delta disappeared under seawater.Satellite images revealed the extent of the flooding as 320 square hectares of the delta disappeared underwater.The fragile ecosystem containing rice paddies, sand dunes, and riverside woodland has suffered severe damage during Storm Gloria as it battered Spain’s east coast for the fourth day.

Storm Gloria which is now moving north into France has left disaster in its wake as it swept across the eastern part of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. Javea on the Costa Blanca was among the worst affected in the Valencia region.

And in Mallorca’s Port de Pollença more than a dozen yachts were washed up on the sand after being ripped from their moorings in the marina.
Coastal towns were lashed by 45-foot waves, and villages farther inland were buried under mountains of snow.
Madrid  a powerful winter storm in Spain has killed at least 10 people after battering the country for days, destroying bridges, cutting off roads and railway lines and flooding vast swaths of farmland. Even as the storm moved north, setting off weather alerts for parts of France, tens of thousands of people across Spain were still recovering on Thursday from driving rains and pounding waves that wreaked havoc in coastal towns and villages.

Farther inland, residents began the process of digging themselves out after heavy snowfalls that left villages cut off from assistance. Since last weekend, the eastern coast of Spain has been regularly hit by winds that reached over 60 miles per hour, the strongest in the country since 1992, according to the Spanish weather service.

In the Balearic Islands, which are in the Mediterranean off eastern Spain, waves cresting at more than 45 feet swept away some popular beaches and smashed into seafront houses.
On Wednesday, another 600 people were evacuated from their homes in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain. The authorities advised other residents living near the Ter and Onyar rivers to either leave their houses or move to an upstairs floor, amid fears that further rainfall could cause both rivers to burst their banks.
One of the worst affected spots was the delta of the Ebro River, where rice paddies were flooded by the surge of the sea, which advanced nearly two miles inland.
It could be some time before the full extent of the damage wrought by this storm comes into focus, particularly in the farming areas of eastern Spain. A storm raging through much of eastern Spain has claimed at least four lives and cut off power to hundreds of thousands. Alicante Airport was also temporarily shut, disrupting over 200 flights. Hundreds of thousands were left without power in northeastern Spain on Tuesday, following an ongoing bout of strong winds and heavy snowfall which has so far left four people dead.
The storm left 220,000 residents without power in Girona province, emergency services said, although a break in the main supply from France had been repaired.

Storm Gloria has battered Spain since Sunday and reached southern France on Tuesday. Valencia on the Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands, including Mallorca, bore the brunt of Monday’s storm. Waves over 8 meters (26 feet) high were also spotted by port authorities in Valencia

Wind speeds in parts of eastern Spain reached 115 kilometers per hour on Monday (about 70 miles per hour). Schools and other public services were largely closed. The storm is not expected to let up until at least Wednesday. Spain has suffered an unusually harsh winter, with several killed at the end of last year in similarly extreme weather. A violent storm that has ravaged parts of Spain with heavy rain and violent winds has left at least 13 people dead.

Death toll climbs in wake of Storm Gloria, which pounded Spain with massive waves, heavy snow, and flooding.

Storm Gloria unleashed fierce winds, flooding rainfall and stirred up phenomenal waves on Spain’s southern and eastern coastlines from Sunday into Wednesday. By Thursday, officials reported the death toll was rising and several people were still missing.

Rainfall began to increase across eastern Spain from Sunday into Monday with the Balearic Islands enduring the brunt of the storm. Majorca was lashed by strong winds of 65-80 km/h (40-50 mph) and heavy rainfall. Pounding surf also caused coastal flooding across the islands.

The Ebro Delta was flooded up to 3 km (1.84 miles) inland due to the combination of heavy rainfall and large surf. This caused significant damage to crops in the region.
The relentless pounding surf also caused waist-high seafoam to take over the streets of Tossa de Mar Tuesday night into Wednesday. Additional flooding, significant travel disruptions and a high risk of mudslides continued into Wednesday night. The heavy rainfall spilled over into southern France where flooding was reported on Wednesday.
New reports of disappearances in northeastern Catalonia and the Mediterranean nation’s Balearic Islands have increased fears that the death toll from Storm Gloria could increase.
 The storm has dragged people to their deaths in surging sea waves, trapped others in vehicles amid flooding and hit them with loosened building debris.
The storm has lasted for five days, accompanied by heavy winds, snow and hail, although weather authorities said the worst of it had passed on Wednesday. The seawater extended 3 kilometers inland.
 The hard-hit regions include north-east Catalonia, where authorities on Thursday was still monitoring several rivers for fear they could overflow, and Andalucia in the south, parts of which were hit by a sudden hail storm early Thursday.
Authorities in Catalonia said they were working to return power to more than 10,000 people and school closures from the storm were affecting some 130,000 students
Powerful Storm Gloria battered Spain for a third day on Tuesday, destroying promenades, spreading dead fish across beaches and leaving parts of the country under a blanket of snow. Huge waves were seen hitting Barcelona’s Olympic port while snowstorms blocked roads and highways in the cities of Teruel and Zaragoza. Gloria caused overturned motorcycles, rocks and debris at the Barceloneta’s beach promenade and people struggling to take a walk.
Emergency services said although a breach in the main supply from neighboring France had been repaired. More than 2,600 kilometers of roads were covered with snow. A wave of seafoam brought ashore by Storm Gloria swept through the town of Tossa de Mar in Spain’s Catalonia region, footage posted online on Monday showed.
The foam, caused by the agitation of organic matter in seawater, stuck to the walls of buildings as it engulfed the coastal town. Powerful Storm Gloria has lashed parts of Spain since Sunday (January 19) bringing with it with high winds, heavy rain and snow.
The storm arrived on Sunday, bringing heavy snow, rain, and gale-force winds to Spain before moving into southern France. On Tuesday, the storm caused high waves that generated sea foam to inundate the coastal town of Tossa de Mar.Footage obtained by the Associated Press showed waves crashing in over Tossa de Mar’s beach, with floodwater moving past shoreline restaurants and businesses on its way to the old town center. Tossa de Mar is located about 90 minutes north of Barcelona.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea foam forms when organic and artificial matter in the ocean is agitated by wind and waves. Authorities in Tossa de Mar described the situation as complicated but told residents the foam did not pose an immediate threat to humans. Local residents were seen assisting in removing the foam but a constant the wind kept whipping it up, hampering clean-up efforts.
Gloria, the powerful winter storm, left more than 200,000 people without electricity as it battered Spain, closing more than 200 roads. Schools canceled classes for more than 5,700 pupils. Officials in Barcelona said the city’s beaches lost much of their sand due to the high, powerful surf.
Fears also increased that heavy rains could lead to several swollen rivers breaking their banks, among them the Onyar river that flows through the northeastern city of Gerona.
Lena Hakobyan
11  November   2019
  Armenia

Address:  Muracan Street 18

  Getazat    village        

Tel:   0037494908326

E-mail:  lenahakobyan826@yahoo.com

Skype:    lena.hakobyan10

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