MORE than 7,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes across Andalucia after Storm Leonardo brought yet more torrential downpours to the region.
That includes the entire population of Grazalema in Cadiz, the wettest village in Spain where a staggering 656mm of rain fell in just 36 hours – more than the city of Sevilla typically receives in an entire year.
Emergency evacuations have also taken place in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Jerez de la Frontera and other areas sensitive to the overflowing of rivers and reservoirs.
Juanma Moreno, the president of Andalucia, said evacuations were likely to continue in the coming days as reservoirs across the south of Spain reach bursting point.
That includes El Limonero reservoir, located north of Malaga city centre, which has reached 100 per cent of its capacity.
Officials have been forced to open its sluice gates and allow excess rainwater to flow through the Guadalmedina river into the Mediterranean Sea, leading to dramatic footage of fast-flowing water rushing through the middle of Spain’s sixth-largest city.
Bornos and Arcos reservoirs, both located in Cadiz, are also full and have been releasing water since last Friday.
Fears are also growing that rain-soaked soil and saturated underground aquifers could give way, leading to catastrophic landslides or the structural failure of houses built on steep slopes.
More than 1,200 emergency management personnel have been deployed across Andalucia to monitor the safety of areas most affected by the storm, including members of the Guardia Civil and Military Emergency Unit (UME).
The bad weather is forecast to ease on Friday, although yellow weather warnings remain in place in some areas for storms, rainfall and high winds in excess of 70km/h.
But the relief will be short-lived with another Atlantic storm brewing on the horizon.
Storm Marta is set to make landfall on Saturday with Aemet, the state weather agency, warning of ‘very heavy’ rainfall across the south, choppy seas and ‘very strong’ wind gusts.
Orange alerts are in place over the weekend for Grazalema and northern Sevilla, with yellow warnings activated for every province in Andalucia bar Granada.
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