SEVILLA has been thrown into chaos after a torrential downpour described by locals as a “tropical storm” flooded parts of the city on Wednesday.
The orange alert downpour inundated a major hospital, trapped schoolchildren, and paralysed traffic across the Andalucian capital.
Rain began pounding the city before dawn and continued for more than three hours without pause, leaving much of the centre under water.
The Virgen Macarena Hospital, one of Sevilla’s main medical facilities, suffered major flooding in its corridors and treatment areas.
Videos shared online showed water gushing through ceilings and pooling around patients’ beds as staff scrambled to contain the damage.
“It’s a disgrace,” wrote one user, showing torrents running through the emergency department.
Elsewhere, Calle Alfonso XII, in the heart of the old city, was turned into a river as cars floated past shopfronts.
In Nervión, residents waded through waist-high water on Calle Luis de Morales, climbing onto benches to escape the rising flood.
Emergency services urged people to stay indoors and avoid travel as they responded to more than 600 incidents, mostly in the city centre and surrounding towns.
In Dos Hermanas, firefighters rescued groups of schoolchildren trapped inside their classrooms after water poured through the playgrounds.
READ MORE: Health alert as new types of coronavirus are found in bats in Spain
The regional emergency service 112 Andalucía confirmed widespread flooding of roads, homes and shops across the metropolitan area.
Forecasters at AEMET, Spain’s national weather agency, kept Sevilla under an orange alert for heavy rain and storms, even as residents complained the situation ‘was already red-alert level’.
The storm system was part of the same Atlantic front that brought torrential rainfall and tornadoes to Huelva and even parts of the Costa del Sol earlier today.
By mid-afternoon, traffic through central Sevilla was at a standstill, public transport disrupted, and several underpasses closed.
Officials described the deluge as ‘extraordinary’ and warned that further storms could develop overnight as the humid air mass moves inland.
Residents were urged to stay off the streets, avoid driving, and secure loose objects on balconies as emergency teams continued pumping out flooded basements and hospital corridors.
Click here to read more Weather News from The Olive Press.
