Malaga avoids chaos and overcomes the passage of DANA without deaths or excesses in the capital

This Wednesday and the early hours of Thursday, Malaga avoided the catastrophe that devastated Valencia two weeks ago. After the DANA, the assessment, still provisional, allows us to draw up a not too unfavorable assessment of an episode which triggered unprecedented downpours in the province. Antonio Sanz, advisor to the Presidency (responsible for coordinating emergencies), declared this on Wednesday around eight p.m.: “The results are that there has been no incident with serious consequences nor for the health nor for the life of the people. »

At that time, there was still fear of the second impact on the city and the province. The nighttime storm was expected on some canals that had reached their limits throughout the day, particularly the Guadalhorce and Campanillas rivers (a tributary of the former), the latter flowing through the capital. The situation led to the expulsion of 3,000 residents. In Benamargosa, in Axarquía (east of the province), the river of the same name overflowed after almost doubling its historical maximum level. This is why Sanz and President Juan Manuel Moreno himself called for remaining vigilant while waiting for what would happen at dawn. “There are still big problems and complexities to be resolved,” he said.

An early morning of intense rain, but not torrential

The truth is that the night passed in intense rain, but not torrential. In the early hours of the morning, thunder was heard in the capital and water fell heavily. But it cleared up. The Hidrosur network precipitation summary reflects how far the nighttime episode was from what was experienced during the central hours of the day. At night, the highest accumulation was recorded in Ojén, reaching 60 liters per square meter in 12 hours.

During the day, the 100 liters per square meter were exceeded from east to west of the province, with the capital exceeding 80 and maximums of 144 in Alfarnatejo (upper Axarquía, east of the province) or 119 in Coín (Guadalhorce valley, center). 950 residents of Almayate (a district of Vélez-Málaga, in Axarquía) were evacuated due to the risk of the Vélez river overflowing at its mouth. Around 300 people were transferred to a gym in Torre del Mar.

The AEMET red notice, initially scheduled until 8 a.m. this Thursday, ended an hour earlier than expected. The report for the morning is 244 incidents throughout Andalusia, including 170 in Malaga. Flooding, road and home rescues and traffic incidents due to puddles or obstacles were the most addressed and a further 22 people were rescued in Vélez-Málaga.

The situation at Malaga airport, where more than 3,000 people were stranded yesterday (15 flights canceled and five diverted), has normalized, according to the morning report from the Junta de Andalucía. However, rail traffic on the AVE and medium distance lines will remain suspended during the early hours of Thursday, awaiting its restoration throughout the day. The Malaga metro, canceled at midday on Wednesday, resumed normal service at 7:15 a.m. As for the roads, the A-7054 was reopened between kilometers 0 and 1, the A-7001 at kilometer 1, both in Malaga, in addition to the A-7205 at kilometer 8,300 in Arenas and the MA -3108 at kilometer 1. passing through Benamargosa. The AA-7207 at 9.600 between Cómpeta and Torrox and the A-7278 in Teba remain closed.

Wednesday’s sale

The feeling in Malaga in the middle of the afternoon, after having overcome the trance of the central hours of the day, was one of a certain relief, the breath held in anticipation of the morning forecast. The DANA transformed some streets of the Center into streams, flooding premises that yesterday afternoon were trying to return to normal, but nothing comparable to the widespread catastrophe of Valencia etched in the retina. Nor to the catastrophic floods of just 35 years ago (November 14, 1989) in the capital Malaga, in which six people died.

The preventive expulsions ordered by the Andalusian Government, the widespread notification to the population (Es-Alert sounded 12 hours in advance on 1,300,000 cell phones), the cancellation of classes at all educational levels and, in general, the awareness of the population regarding the recent episode of Levante allowed this episode not to reach the disaster category. There were fears at times that dozens of horses stuck in the Equestrian Club’s flooded stables would drown, but that too has been resolved. 41 horses and 39 dogs were rescued there by the local police.

In the morning, the streets seemed almost deserted. The feeling was one of tense waiting, resolved after 11 o’clock with the expected storm, five hours of downpour with small respites, enough to flood the streets and make people fear the worst. But by mid-afternoon, the people of Malaga were smelling their clothes and the Guadalmedina River was flowing with a good flow, a rarity that locals and foreigners alike gazed upon with astonishment. The sky has opened and walkers stop on the bridges to immortalize that the river bed is no longer dry. The center regained its tourist flow, not a minute of the trip to lose, even if everything got bogged down.

At that time, the Carretería was a muddy mess. This is ground zero for the devastation this Wednesday in the Center, as well as mass tourism in Malaga. Shortly before, a huge mudslide had flowed down Postigo de Arance Street until it ended a few dozen meters at the confluence with Carretería. Here there are brunch places, tourist apartments, locker franchises and laundries. “It reached one meter, and suddenly. Luckily we were able to get out,” said Luigi de Caramelli Salato, barely brushing the mud off.

Marcos Sneydr barely had time to lower the blinds of his premises when he found himself up to his arms in water. In a few minutes, it reached a little less than a meter. As soon as they saw how quickly the temperature was rising, they returned home. A large flowerpot carried away by the current and a 25-liter beer barrel stored in a corner show the waves. They had customers and they chased them away. “It’s a shame that Carretería is like this. They just did it and there should be drains. I understand that the rain was enormous, but… a river was flowing there,” explains Ana López, the owner, pointing to Postigo de Arance, while her son Marcos scoops out the mud that got in.

A broken pipe also had a lot to do with it, which a team of workers quickly took care of. “He blew it.” Keep in mind that a canal passes through there,” explains one of them, pointing to the expanse of cobblestones that the force of the current has lifted from the ground. “Nothing happened,” they conclude.