Fatal floods strike Spain and Portugal, thousands evacuating
Both countries have issued warnings over the potential fresh floods, after inundations blocked hundreds of roads and disrupted trains
Spain and Portugal on Saturday braced for another storm heading for the Iberian Peninsula, just days after the floods caused by Storm Leonardo proved fatal in both countries.
The latest depression, christened Storm Marta, has prompted the deployment of more than 26,500 rescuers in Portugal, where the foul weather has led three municipalities to postpone Sunday’s presidential vote till next week.
Both countries have issued warnings over the potential fresh floods, after inundations blocked hundreds of roads, disrupted trains and forced thousands to evacuate from the rising waters.
In Spain, much of the country’s south, particularly Andalusia, was placed on orange alert on Saturday, as was the north-west facing heavy rain and violent storms, according to the national meteorological agency Aemet.
But Aemet added it expected the rainfall to be less “exceptional” than seen in recent days during the Leonardo depression, which authorities say claimed two lives, including a woman swept away by a river in Andalusia and whose body was found on Friday.
Fresh rainfall on Saturday in Andalusia comes on top of downpours which caused mass flooding, landslides and the evacuation of more than 10,000 people from their homes.