NEARLY 500 families were evacuated from their homes in Andalucia as Storm Francis wreaked havoc through Spain on Sunday, authorities have said.
A total of 470 households across Cadiz were forced to flee as river Guadarranque swelled under battering rain.
Around 30 people in Cartama, west of Malaga, were rushed to an emergency shelter in a local sports pavilion as the Grande, Guadalhorce and Manilva rivers burst their banks, triggering a cascade of destruction: a bridge collapsed in nearby Coin, while the wall of a residential block crumbled in the town of Monda.
All evacuees were able to return home on Monday morning once waters began to recede, though many found their properties badly damaged.
Emergency services responded to 441 incidents across Andalucia between Sunday and early Monday, dealing with flooding, road closures, and multiple rescues as Storm Francis dumped extraordinary amounts of rain in a short period of time.
Malaga province bore the brunt of the chaos. The towns of Tolox and Monda recorded a staggering 250 litres of rain per square metre in less than 24 hours, according to Spain’s state weather agency AEMET – an amount more typical of several months’ rainfall.
The latest deluge came just days after deadly floods struck the region last week, killing two people in Cartama and a young man in Granada province.
Andalucia is particularly vulnerable to flash flooding during periods of intense rainfall, experts have said, as normally dry riverbeds can swell suddenly and drainage systems are often overwhelmed.
Cartama resident Clara Maria Moya, who spent the night of Sunday at the emergency shelter, told Malaga Hoy: “The choice came down to leaving or drowning outright.”
She added: “On December 28 [Cartama] flooded and yesterday it flooded again. My house has a meter and a half of water inside. We need help … My house is destroyed.”
Following last week’s floods, Cartama formally called on Spain’s central government to declare the town a disaster zone.
The municipality has now endured four major flooding events in just two years, reigniting concerns about long-term protection for vulnerable communities across southern Spain.
READ MORE: Families evacuated in Malaga province as storm Francis tears through the region
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