The geographer Josep Manchado knows closely the natural phenomena that have been occurring in the Balearic Islands for hundreds of years. Manchado, who was island director of Environment at the Consell de Mallorca between 2019 and 2022, says OKDIARIO How is it “possible” that DANA who was billed dozens of lives in the Valence and in Castile-La Mancha could be repeated in its own way in Mallorca.
“This happened four years ago Sant Llorenc (there were thirteen deaths) and 25 in Manacorin a torrent that cost the lives of five people. In ancient times in Minorca there was a a hundred dead. Sometimes it’s best not to name names because you seem to be waiting for something bad to happen. But to give an example, in the district of La Vileta In Palma there is a torrent capable of transporting water through a tube of approximately 50 centimeters in diameter. There is another one in the torrent of Sant Mages. There will be misfortune one day. And the one that seems the most serious to me is that of Inca Nou Bridge Its basin being immense, it collects a lot of water. One day, when 200 liters fall, something will happen.
Manchado, who was island director of Environment at the Island Council of Mallorca, says that “the problem is that these things are calculated in return periods, that is, how long it takes for them to fall back.” 200 or 300 liters per square meter. There may be a difference of 500 years, but it happens,” he emphasizes.
The geographer recognizes that “it is totally unpredictable because you don’t know where all that water is going to fall. “Often it falls into the sea.” But he emphasizes that “the lands of Valencia and the Balearic Islands are very favorable to this.. We both have mountains next to the sea, which causes these large water cycles to develop. In Sant Llorenç, I remember that it concerned a very small basin, but when it rains 200 liters, anything can happen.
“The same thing can happen in Mallorca. Not with the same intensity with which it affected Valencia. But these winds from the Levant, loaded with moisture, hit a perpendicular mountain range and these days they experienced a very strong wind. This reaches the mountains and becomes cold air at altitude. Fortunately, in Mallorca this does not happen. In the Levant, there are no mountains. “Here we don’t have this screen,” explains Manchado to differentiate the two territories.
The geographer remembers that “when the Tous dam fell, it rained 1,000 liters in just 24 hours“, never seen before.” “Due to the geographical configuration, it is more common for these disasters to occur earlier in Valencia than in the Balearic Islands.”
As points to take into account in the Balearic Islands in case of intense rains that may occur in the archipelago, Manchado points out the Ponent de Palma, the Sant Magí torrent and the La Vileta district.
There are no paragraphs that cause so much loss and suffering to the Valencian Community and Castella-La Manxa. We are available with air services to access isolated areas and continue in constant collaboration with emergency services. It is important for all things, seeing and willing… pic.twitter.com/ol9BHr3PV7
– Marga Prohens (@MargaProhens) October 30, 2024
The biggest disaster after Biescas and the Turia
This DANA, which has so far caused 63 deaths, is the biggest natural disaster that Spain has experienced after the flood of Biescas (Huesca) in 1996 with 87 deaths and the flood of Turia in 1957, which killed at least 81 people.
The natural disaster that caused the most victims in our country was the flooding of the Biescas campsite, in the province of Huesca. This happened on August 7, 1996, when a flash flood from the Arás torrent devastated the Las Nieves campsite, causing the death of 87 people and injuring more than 180.
For its part, the Valencia floods in 1957 inundated the city, causing at least 81 deaths, thousands of victims, as well as significant material damage. In fact, this event marked the future and development of Valencia, leading to the change of the course of the Turia river in 1973 in order to avoid the repetition of a disaster of the same magnitude.
