Walter Finch
THE waters have arrived in Marbella as the town’s streets, beachfront and hospitals are flooded, while tornadoes batter boats and toss sun loungers into the air.
Shocking footage has shown raging torrents of brown water rushing through the streets outside Quiron Hospital Marbella and frightened locals are heard off camera.
Meanwhile, the roads of the usually car-clogged town have filled up with water that has made driving perilous, with reports that drains have clogged up.
The Guadaiza river has begun to overflow near Nueva Andalucia and the La Cañada tunnel has become barely passable.
Other neighbours have reported that ‘basements are filling up’ as residents have hurried to get out of harm’s way.
So far there have been no reports of deaths or injuries, but the forecast is for the current situation to worsen.
Other footage shared online shows a tornado approaching Marbella beach.
In one clip, it is seen going right up to the shore of Playa de Cable before making contact with the sand.
Surprised Brits can be heard in the background of the clip commenting on the tornado’s development.
The clip was uploaded to popular community Instagram page Marbellasequeja.
It comes as a red-alert storm is wreaking havoc across Malaga province and the Costa del Sol today.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes along the Guadalhorce riverbed as ‘extreme rainfall’ batters the region.
The red warning from state weather agency Aemet is in place until at least 11.59pm on Wednesday.
The evacuations have now even been extended to coastal towns like Benalmadena, after beginning inland in Alora, Pizarra, Alhuarin de la Torre and elsewhere.
Meteorologists predict at least 120mm of rain will fall per square metre, with some areas at more of a flood risk than others.
Footage shared online this afternoon showed how the Hospital Clinico in Malaga is already filling up with water.
Meanwhile, muddy flood water has been seen filling up roads across the coast, including in Velez-Malaga and Torre del Mar.
It comes after people were advised to ‘abandon their cars’ in the event that they are suddenly swept away by river surges.
The advice was given in a tweet by the Junta de Andalucia overnight.
