Inland Malaga towns continue with clean-up operations after the weekend storms

Although the Guadalhorce valley town of Cártama was one of the worst affected by the heavy downpours that hit Malaga province on the evening of 27 December and during the early hours of 28 December, other inland towns were also affected by the inclement weather. Places such as Tolox, Guaro, Monda, Coín and Alhaurín el Grande were pounded for several hours with heavy rainfall that left multiple incidents in different parts of the province.

Tolox was one of the municipalities where most rainfall was collected during the episode. The town in the Sierra de las Nieves received a large amount of water in a few hours, which caused the river Los Caballos, which flows into the Rio Grande, to increase its flow and speed at times. The accumulation of water in one of the flood zones caused a section of pavement near the river area to collapse.

Paqui Moreno watched everything from her home. Although there were anxious moments last Saturday, the Tolox resident acknowledges that it was fairly calm, due to the orographic layout of the town. "As we are on a slope, even if the river rises, it never overflows in this area," said Moreno, who also pointed out how "full the river was" as it passed through the town: "We had a lot of water in a very short time".

Regarding the collapse of a part of the road near the riverbed, the local woman insists that the residents tried to downplay its importance. "I told others when I saw it but they weren't unduly worried," she said. "If someone had been injured, that's obviously a different story, but luckily we haven't had to worry about any more incidents.

In Coín, the day of heavy rainfall recorded during the afternoon and evening of Saturday left more than 80 and 90mm in just 12 hours in different areas of the municipality, in a period during which a red 'extreme danger' weather alert was activated. Despite the high volume of water accumulated in such a short space of time, no personal injuries were reported, according to the town hall.

The material damage was slight and mainly concentrated on road infrastructure. The dry river bridge had to be temporarily closed for safety reasons, although it is now open to traffic. In addition, the municipal services are working to clean up the mud and rocks that were caused by the force of the water on Avenida de España and Avenida de Fuengirola. Several warnings were also dealt with due to water entering homes, which were resolved immediately.

In the Guadalhorce valley itself, a heavy hailstorm surprised the residents of Alhaurín el Grande in the mid-afternoon, with "large chunks of ice", as some residents described them, causing damage to several vehicles. Apart from some occasional traffic jams in the municipality and a few incidents on rural roads which the operational services were able to resolve, the most notable event was the relocation of a family from the El Chorro neighbourhood to an aparthotel in the town, following the evacuation recommended by the authorities.

In the case of Miguel Ángel Cordero, a resident of Alhaurín el Grande, the hailstorm affected his father-in-law's crops to a greater extent. He explained that when they went to check the avocados the next morning, they were covered in hail like "balls of ice cubes".

Cordero was upset by damage to his car, which was parked at the fairgrounds, although there was no serious damage. But he did point out that he knows of several vehicles that have been badly damaged by the hail. "We kept an eye on our mobile phones and the weather alerts, and the truth is that we were worried".

The storm left several trouble spots on Sunday, although Guaro can be considered one of the most affected municipalities. The heavy rains, although they did not cause any major incidents, did cause several rural roads to be cut off due to the accumulation of reeds and obstructions, which the town hall is already dealing with. There were also occasional cuts in the water supply related to electrical distribution panels, which lasted until midday on Sunday, when the town hall announced the recovery of the service: "We inform our residents that the water supply has now been restored in the municipality, except for the Comisario area, and that it will arrive progressively as the municipal network fills up," read the communiqué.

For Carmen Pilar Ruiz, yesterday afternoon in Guaro meant a lot of anxiety and fear due to the amount of water that had accumulated. Her main concern was the courtyard of her home, trying to prevent it from becoming blocked and causing major damage. "With all the rain, you couldn't walk down the street, the electricity went out at times and there was a break that left us without water," said the resident about her ordeal during the adverse weather episode.

"We were also very worried about the cars because of the hail that fell at one point on Saturday evening," recalled Ruiz, who also feared the rubbish containers being carried down the street. In Guaro, she said, the bins are not anchored: "In my street the wind pushes them downhill and they can hit a car. It's quite scary".

The heavy rainfall also resulted in incidents in Carratraca, where the flooding of a stream caused the accumulation of debris in an underpass, impeding traffic.

In addition, water has entered several municipal buildings, including the town hall and adult school. The extent of the damage is being assessed with the aim of applying for grant for aid if necessary.

Although there were not as many incidents, there were also some worrying moments in Monda. In fact, the Wunderground network of amateur rain gauges measured 120mm during the downpour early onSaturday evening, which affected the municipality the most. Paco Sánchez pointed out that, although some parts of the town were more affected, it was not one of the worst weather episodes: "My house is in a flood zone and on this occasion we have not been very affected," he said.

The municipality's town hall has reported that, although the damage situation is still being assessed, some rural areas have been cut off by the flooding of several streams.