The National Meteorological Agency warned this week that the change in weather would be brutal and that the heat would give way to a storm that would bring above all “uncertainty”. Finally, this uncertainty translated into strong storms, with hail, waterspouts and intense gusts of wind in several regions of Spain.
This Thursday, several municipalities in Aragon and Cantabria recorded damage due to the passage of the Dana – an isolated depression at high levels – which caused flooding in some localities. In the region of Liébana, in Cantabria, the heavy rains of the last few hours caused flooding in garages, cellars and homes in Cillorigo (Ojedo) and Potes.
In addition, the water caused a landslide on Thursday that cut off the old Potes road, as reported by the 112 Emergency Center on its X account (Twitter).
Hail even fell in Potes, as shown in images shared on social networks on Thursday afternoon.
In Aragon, the main effects of the dana were felt in the towns of Herrera de los Navarros (Zaragoza) and Burbáguena (Teruel), where the streets practically became rivers. The Government of Aragon therefore activated the Special Civil Protection Plan against adverse weather phenomena all Thursday afternoon.
In Burbáguena, a town of about 200 inhabitants, more than 23 liters per square meter fell, breaking the town’s rain gauge, where up to 12 centimeters of rain accumulated.
In Herrera de los Navarros, the images also speak for themselves. On Thursday afternoon, the storm turned the streets into rivers with rain that fell in a matter of minutes.
This Thursday, AEMET placed several areas of Aragon on orange alert.which implies a “significant risk” due to accumulations of water of up to 30 liters per square meter in one hour, according to the Agency’s forecasts. In addition, nine other communities in the interior of the peninsula were on yellow alert (risk for certain activities) due to heavy showers, storms, wind and hail before the arrival of Dana.
The Ebro Hydrographic Confederation also warned on Thursday of the possibility of sudden and significant flooding in the ravines and small channels of the Ebro basin, given the intense rains expected throughout Aragon.
In anticipation of this Friday, AEMET has activated orange level alerts in the areas of Navarra, Euskadi, Aragon, Castilla y León and La Rioja due to rain and storms, in addition to yellow level warnings in the Community of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia, as shown in the following map.
This week is the second damage recorded in Spain during the month of August. This Friday, Menorca asked the government to declare the municipalities of Alaior and Es Mercadal as “areas seriously affected by a Civil Protection emergency” due to the damage caused by the dana that hit them on August 15.
