FRESH extreme flood fears have gripped the Guadiaro Valley today as a new Atlantic storm is forecast to hit the region on Friday.
Meteorologists have named the incoming front ‘Storm Nils’ – the ninth so far this season – and Aemet has issued an urgent yellow warning for the SerranÃa de Ronda and Grazalema – the two most at-risk regions.
The state agency predicts up to 60mm of rain could fall in just 12 hours on Friday, accompanied by westerly wind gusts of up to 80km/h.
While such rainfall is usually manageable for the wettest part of Spain, experts warn it could be the ‘final straw’ for a landscape that is completely saturated.
Following the historic 500mm deluge from Storm Leonardo last week, the ground in Grazalema and Ronda acts like a sealed surface.
Water has nowhere to soak in and will run instantly into the rivers, which are already at breaking point.
This poses a critical threat to the villages of Estación de Benaoján and Jimera de LÃbar, where over 200 residents have already been evacuated.
The focus of the fear is the defunct Montejaque dam.
For the first time in its 100-year history, the ‘Ghost Dam’ above Benaoján is full to the brim.
Authorities have previously stated that a ‘controlled overflow’ is the standard procedure.
On Tuesday (February 10), Patricia Navarro, the Junta’s Delegate in Malaga, insisted: ‘The dam does not present a risk of breakage. The only possibility foreseen is an eventual controlled overflow.’
Similarly, on the same day, the Mayor of Jimera de LÃbar, Francisco Javier Lobo, described the evacuations as ‘preventive’, adding that he considered it ‘almost impossible’ for the water to reach dangerous levels.
However, with persistent rain in the days ahead coupled with the 60mm forecast to dump directly onto the reservoir’s catchment area in a matter of hours on Friday, the Olive Press has contacted these authorities to ask if their risk assessment has changed.
Residents are being urged to exercise extreme caution and stay away from the river banks.
As Storm Nils moves on on Friday night, it will drag in a mass of bitter Arctic air.
Temperatures will plummet and the snow line will crash to 700 metres on Saturday, potentially burying the flood-threatened town of Ronda in snow.
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