Flash flooding kills 10 in Mallorca – “The probability of 233 millimeters of rain falling in Mallorca, which was recorded yesterday, is one in a thousand years”
By Lucía Bohórquez
10 October 2018
Palma de Mallorca (El País) – At least 10 people, including a British couple, have died in Mallorca, in Spain’s Balearic Islands, after the island was hit by flash flooding on Tuesday night. A child is still unaccounted for, down from six people reported missing this morning.
It is one of the most serious floods to hit Spain in the past 25 years. Three deaths occurred in S’Illot, one in Artà and four took place in Sant Lorenç des Cardassar, a neighborhood 60 kilometers from the island capital Palma de Mallorca, according to emergency services.More than 230 millimeters of rain fell on the area in just two hours. According to a preliminary report by Spain’s AEMET national weather service, “the probability of 233 millimeters of rain falling in Colònia de Sant Pere [close to Sant Lorenç] in Mallorca, which was recorded yesterday, is one in a thousand years.”The heavy rainfall flooded the Ses Planes brook, which is typically dry, with water gushing through the historical center, dragging cars, flooding houses, and leaving hundreds of residents trapped in their homes. Many waited to be rescued on balconies and the rooftops of their houses. Three people were injured and another 200 people were forced to flee their homes. […]The Balearic Islands remain on orange alert with more rain expected on Wednesday. AEMET has forecast 40 millimeters of rain for Ibiza and Formentera between 8am and 6pm. In Mallorca, 20 millimeters are expected to fall in an hour.On the mainland, Málaga, Barcelona and Girona are on orange alert for torrential rain, and Tarragona is on yellow. [more]
