The rain in Spain

Just as we were breathing a sigh of relief that we’d escaped the worst of the deluge affecting Valencia, we’ve had both barrels of the DANA today. We live half way between Barcelona and Valencia and it flooded Tarragona last night and Barcelona this morning,  its been biblical for the last hour and although we live on a hillside, the runoff has turned into a river. The soil in this area is sandy so the erosion has been incredible, great fissures have emerged on the dirt roads and deposited silt down at the coast. Obviously our hearts go out to those who have lost their lives and homes in Valencia, we donated food and nappies at the weekend. I get the feeling that this isn’t over by a long way.

We have just returned to the UK after a 7 week touring holiday in the caravan in that area and look on in horror at what Valencia has suffered, it’s surely had a huge impact not only on the city but the rice growing area around Albufera. We stayed at Peniscola, Cambrils, Sitges and Roses, do you know how these towns have fared? we haven’t heard anything  specific.We had some torrential rain while we were there but nothing compared to what has just happened. We can only hope the worst is over but it seems to be hanging around a long time.

It really has been horrific to watch on the news over here.

Incredible scenes for a European nation, but similar to the destruction in Germany a year or two back. We’ve had a calm period here in the UK – possibly feeding on to the weather pattern in Spain, but the jet stream would not have to move too far to put the UK in the firing line, and our infrastructure would likely be just as devastated.

Mmm, I wonder why we’re getting so many “once in a lifetime” storms/floods/fires? If only we could find the cause!l

My parents live in Moraira and have reported rain today (they didn’t have any when Valencia was hit)

I’ve seen photos and video from Cambrils and Tarragona,  lots of roads closed due to landslides and where the roads pass under the coastal railway line. Barcelona Airport is flooded with ankle deep water in the terminal.  Castelldefels near Sitges has fared badly due to runoff from the surrounding hills so the motorway to the airport is closed as well.  Flow of the main river that flows into south Barcelona, the Llobregat, went from 13m3/second to 240m3/second in an hour

Does look like a stuck weather system – potentially why UK weather has just been stuck under heavy cloud that’s not moving.

Mmm, I wonder why we’re getting so many “once in a lifetime” storms/floods/fires? If only we could find the cause!l

I did hear someone had an explanation, but they got put in jail.

This explains it fairly well:

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/spains-deadly-dana-weather-phenomenon-its-links-climate-change-2024-10-30/

Part of the problem in Valencia is people weren’t informed of the extreme danger until it was already in progress, hence the high number of lives lost….

I’m a bit further down the coast (almeria) and by luck escaped the worst of it… although we all got this on mobile phones the other day… first time I’ve seen the emergency text system used!

It wasn’t as bad here but it was a bit stormy.. some roads out etc.

It’s horrific. Those poor people. Did you see the crowds chucking mud at the local government guy and the royals?  Hardly surprising!
#ThoughtAnd Prayers won’t restore houses/businesses nor reanimate the dead.

2-3 incredibly hot years with unbearable summers has turned the ground into rock hard soil for most of the Iberian Peninsula. This creates conditions for immediate run-off from any rainfall. When there is huge amount of rain then it’s like dropping a bathtub of water on a concrete drive way. It races downhill and washes away anything in it’s path. We’ve just seen this on an epic scale.

Factor in rivers that have been re-routed, development on the course of the old river and ineffective civil preparedness and you have a recipe for a disaster. The local govt will probably state that this level of rain was unlikely but there was a very big flood in Valencia in 1957 and Malaga in 1989. Flash flooding has happened within living memory in the same location, they knew it could happen even if you ignore climate change.

The elephant in the room is Climate Change which will make these events worse in the future but as we’ve witnessed the future is rapidly becoming current conditions. A recent UN report states that we’ve flown past 1.6deg C warming, a more realistic trajectory is in the 2.6-3.1 deg C range.

A recent UN report states that we’ve flown past 1.6deg C warming, a more realistic trajectory is in the 2.6-3.1 deg C range.

We’re part of a few European programmes around climate adaptation. Most are working on 4*c now and the significant chaos and different approaches needed.

If I owned a house anywhere near sea level, a river, a place where (almost inconceivably) water could flow, exposed to wind, predicted ‘hotter summers’ I would be moving.

The National Trust Climate hazard map is predicted on 2*c, so increase what that tells you for your house, school, business etc.

It’s a lot more nuanced than that, the UN report is a global context but there is huge variability at a national, regional and local level. Like most things, the devil is in the detail and it’s really difficult to make generalisations that remain true for most locations.

Look at projected sea level rise, even worse case scenarios we’re under 1m increase across most of Europe by 2100 but there are places around the globe with 5-8m predictions by 2100!

It’s very scary stuff.

Also I don’t know what the infrastructure is like around Valencia, but around here we have storm drains ‘ramblas’ leading to the sea… A bit like in terminator 2 when the t1000 is chasing Arnie and John Connor on the motorbike.

They are not all very well maintained and have a lot of debris and vegetation growing in them which won’t help.

Part of the problem in Valencia is people weren’t informed of the extreme danger until it was already in progress, hence the high number of lives lost….

Apparently the warning did go out, but the local government didn’t actually turn that into any practical action: no school closures, shutting down businesses, etc.

Apparently the warning did go out, but the local government didn’t actually turn that into any practical action: no school closures, shutting down businesses, etc.

I don’t know exactly how it went down as it’s a different municipality/local government .. Just what I’ve heard from locals.

I’m told the public didn’t get the emergency text like we did in almeria the other day.

some serious rain.  Ive got friends who live south of Valencia who have largely escaped the worst of it (L’Olleria) while also keeping a close eye on the news from Benicassim/Orpesa.

EDIT – UNBLOCKED REUTERS LINK AND BELOW QUESTION ANSWERED

While i clearly understand the strength of feeling from the residents in Valencia, Im not really clear as to how much the government could have done/been expected to do?  Im not picking a fight, but if anyone understands the relative timelines for whats happened over the last week (or a useful link) i’d be interested.

Reuters link blocked by work – i will check back later

They are not all very well maintained and have a lot of vegetation growing on them which won’t help.

That is my impression of the storm drains and rivers in the affected area. Looking from street view photography there are lots of reasonably big trees near the bridges. My understanding of storm drains is that they need to quickly move the water through the area of to the sea/lagoon rather than slowing the flow down at that last point? I guess there would be a few people who would disagree with removing the trees and foliage base on environmental grounds? And why bother removing the trees if it hardly ever rains? Expensive for the local councils to justify the cost of maintenance?

I guess there would be a few people who would disagree with removing the trees and foliage base on environmental grounds? And why bother removing the trees if it hardly ever rains? Expensive for the local councils to justify the cost of maintenance?

Possibly, but as someone above said, after prolonged dry spells, several years in this case, the regular ground becomes pretty much rock solid, so when it does rain hard, the water isn’t absorbed into the ground… It all just runs downhill on the surface…hopefully into strategically built storm drains, but if they are obstructed, they overflow.

There’s a lot to this, and a lot of questions to be answered…

I did hear someone had an explanation, but they got put in jail.

Really? Who got put in jail for explaining the increase in extreme weather events?

There is some talk of the new local Govt making cutbacks to civil defence budgets – the people who would prepare, coordinate/respond to these types of events e.g. earthquake, landslides etc. I’m not sure if that is true though.

And why bother removing the trees if it hardly ever rains?

That is not true though. It does rain. Storm Gloria brought very bad flooding in early 2020. Storms and floods are not as rare as people think they are. The difference this time is the magnitude of the event so it overwhelmed everything. BUT if things were better managed, i.e. warning systems, conduit/drainage maintenance programs then we’d be having a very different conversation.

2-3 incredibly hot years with unbearable summers has turned the ground into rock hard soil for most of the Iberian Peninsula. This creates conditions for immediate run-off from any rainfall. When there is huge amount of rain then it’s like dropping a bathtub of water on a concrete drive way. It races downhill and washes away anything in it’s path. We’ve just seen this on an epic scale.

This ^^. I go out to a place in the Sierra Nevadas occasionally, the last 2-3 years there’s been less and less snow on the high mountains (and lasting less and less time) and the two main reservoirs in the area are way down on what should be their normal level. One is at about 15% of normal now.

Málaga and the surrounding area, especially heading east along the coast has hundreds of acres of greenhouses and also mango and avocado plantations, all of which take huge amounts of water.

The ground all around is completely parched.

Only second hand info but a business contact just posted after 4 days of being cut off that the warning arrived in his town 15 minutes after the place flooded.  Simply no time to escape, hence the anger

That is not true though. It does rain.

Yes it does rain in south east spain, but it’s not little and often… its mostly long very dry spells, but when is does rain, IT REALLY RAINS! for a short period of time.

I know storm and rain events aren’t rare. A few years back I was in Nice early October 201? and there was a 24hr period of rain which affected the city with lives lost in the area plus underground car parks.

The hardly ever rains comment is meant more in general for the area, out of 365 days in a year it probably only rains on 60 days and on 59 of those days the storm drains and rivers cope well. The trees and vegetation that are slowly growing within the storm drains and rivers aren’t a problem for 99% of the deluges, everyone enjoys the shade and greenery in an otherwise hot arid environment.

All numbers above are guess work. Just like the local authorities guessing that the trees and maintenance of the drains and rivers won’t be a problem until next year if they are able to cope with this year’s rains.

Only second hand info but a business contact just posted after 4 days of being cut off that the warning arrived in his town 15 minutes after the place flooded. Simply no time to escape, hence the anger

I’m hearing similar annecdotes from locals (here) but I’m about 3.5hrs drive further south… but they are saying they didn’t get the emergency mobile notifiications…(EDIT) or if they did, teh disater was already in progress).

Some areas got it quite bad here, but not nearly on the scale of valencia as that’s just where it happened to hit the worst ‘this time’.

I walked through one of Valencias storm drains when I visited. I thought it was a neat idea to use the drain as a public park when it wasn’t in use. I was wrong tho, it seems as if they had decommissioned the storm drain which ran to the north of the city and past the science museum towards the port. It looks as if the city and surrounding area is aware of the threat from rainfall but didn’t feel as if having 2 drains was needed? Maybe future plans will recommission the old drain to alleviate the pressure on the current storm drain south of the city?

Edit: the old storm drain is full of infrastructure. So I don’t they’ll ever re use it.

heading east along the coast has hundreds of acres of greenhouses and also mango and avocado plantations, all of which take huge amounts of water.

The ground all around is completely parched.

They call it plastic city… fun fact, it was used partly for the the intro to Bladerunner 2049, with a bit of digital enhancement, of course!

from 1min40 seconds on this clip:

Here’s an article about it..

https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/blade-runner-2049-espana-sevilla-almeria-localizacion-real-5525150/

They call it plastic city…

I’ve only ever heard it called Sea of Plastic but it’s the same principle. It’s visible from space!

In addition to the water usage, it seems widely acknowledged that it’s the epicentre of a whole load of undocumented migrant workers.

It’s visible from space!

Yup.. at first glance the white bits on the map look like cities/towns, but if you zoom in on google maps/earth, they are industrial size poly-tunnel/greenhouses..right on the edge of the Sierra Nevada…the only official desert in Europe  🙁

Miles and miles of them

Seen a few ppl on twitter mention the removal of dams might have made things worse

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/16/record-number-of-dams-removed-from-europe-rivers-in-2021-aoe

I’m not sure it would have made loads if difference as reports say it was a years worth of rain in 8 hours.

the news footage, albeit in an urban context, is eerily familiar to anyone who remembers the images of the Biescas tragedy in the 90’s where heavy rainfall and a poorly sited campsite (flouting planning regs) resulted in 80 odd campers drowning in their caravans or getting swept away down river.

Don’t let this put you off driving your kids to school each day or jetting the family off a couple of times a year.