Torrential downpours of rain in eastern Spain: Red 'severe risk' weather alerts activated in these areas today

Streets and garages flooded, people rescued from their cars, communications affected and some ravines overflowed. This was the scene left in Spain on Sunday by the former-hurricane Gabrielle, which has now become a storm, in some provinces in the east of the mainland. Zaragoza, Tarragona and Castellón are, for now, the regions most affected by weather conditions that have led to the declaration of the red level for extreme risk of rain in some areas.

In anticipation of the situation worsening in the coming hours, Spain's state meteorological Agency (Aemet) has updated the warning for extreme risk of rainfall to red level in the provinces of Valencia, Castellón and Tarragona from this Monday 29 September. The forecast predicts that the heavy rainfall could last until Tuesday.

The province of Zaragoza, one of the worst hit by the storm so far, is at amber level, where storms with hail triggered several incidents this Sunday afternoon. Although the hail did not cause major damage, the torrential rain did, leaving neighbourhoods cut off and causing flooding in garages and houses in the provincial capital and in towns such as Santa Fe, Cadrete, Cuarte and María de Huerva.

The torrential rain that fall on the Aragonese capital forced firefighters to rescue several people trapped in their vehicles in flooded areas, although none of these interventions have been critical. In addition, the tram service has been interrupted on several sections of the route, and Local Police officers cut off the Z-30 as a precaution in the Barranco de la Muerte ravine, the scene of a major flood of July 2023. The authorities are also keeping a close eye on the possible overflowing of some rivers, such as the Huerva.

For his part, the president of Aragón, Jorge Azcón, has reported that he is touring the areas most affected by "the very heavy rains". "I have just met with the mayor of Cuarte and we have checked the state of the school infrastructures in the municipality," he said on his X profile.

In Tarragona, the 112 emergency telephone number received dozens of calls this Sunday afternoon related to the rains, especially in the south of the province. Most of them were concentrated in the Baix Ebre and Montsià areas, mainly the municipalities of Cherta and Amposta. Precisely between the latter town and La Rápita, the Servei Català de Trànsit transport authority cut the N-340 road in both directions due to the presence of large pools of water and the overflowing of a nearby ravine. The Murcia region will also be affected, according to forecasts, and is therefore at an amber level.

The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has expressed through his X account that he is "pending the evolution of the predicted torrential rains" and has asked for caution and to avoid unnecessary travel and outdoor activities.

In Castellón, the red warning for extreme rain was activated on Sunday, with hail and rain in municipalities such as Vinaroz, and it will be extended throughout the day this Monday. In both Valencian provinces and in Tarragona, the ES Alert was sounded in the afternoon due to rainfall, something that did not happen in Zaragoza.

After these first incidents, Monday and Tuesday will be the most adverse days of this episode caused by former-Hurricane Gabrielle. From the early hours of this morning, locally heavy or very heavy and persistent storms are expected in the Valencian region and Tarragona, which will spread during the afternoon to other areas of the inland southeast.

In view of these forecasts and with the human tragedy of the 'Dana' of eleven months ago still clear in the memory, Emergencias de la Comunidad Valenciana has doubled the number of staff to answer the 112 emergency telephone number in the coming hours. In addition, "monitoring and control points" will be set up in areas such as the Barranco del Poyo ravine and the area around the Buseo dam.

This was stated by the councillor responsible for this area, Juan Carlos Valderrama, in statements to the media after a coordination meeting in which the "most sensitive" areas have been identified, according to the hydrographic confederations, and where "special attention must be paid in order to establish coordination mechanisms between the different administrations to handle any emergency that may occur".

In addition, some town councils in the province of Valencia, including the city, have already announced the suspension of classes due to the red weather warning for heavy rain. Municipalities affected by the Dana of 29 October, such as Benetússer, Sedaví and Alfafar, will not be able to attend classes either.