Heavy Rain Hits Spain For 3 Weeks In A Row, Hundreds Of People Evacuated

UNSPLASH/Erik Witsoe ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Heavy rains hit Spain for three consecutive weeks. It was reported that two people were missing and hundreds of people were evacuated in the southern region of Andalusia, where several rivers overflowed.

Spanishs remain vigilant after heavy rains four months ago in eastern Valencia caused the country's deadliest natural disaster in decades.

Many blame local and national officials for being late in sending emergency warnings.

The Andalusian regional leader, Juan Manuel Moreno, urged residents to be very careful on Tuesday, March 18.

"Please be careful, even if the rain stops. Crossing the river is very dangerous," Moreno said after two people disappeared in the regional capital, Seville.

Authorities believe the couple tried to cross the ravine and may have been swept away. Their empty car was found upside down nearby.

Andalusia authorities said a total of 368 families were evacuated as a precaution in Malaga province. In one of the cities, Cartama, about 20 people and their pets were rescued from their flooded homes.

In Aguilas, the Mediterranean coastal city of Murcia, emergency services rescued nine people trapped in their cars in a ravine. Passengers of several boats were also helped to a safe place in the same area.

This unusual series of storms has helped the country - whose weather is generally sunny and a major attraction for tourists - ending a long-term drought, with many dams now being released to prevent it from overflowing.

After two weeks of rain, the Spanish reservoir reached 65.6% of its capacity, above an average of 10 years, with an increase of 5% in the last week alone.

A British resident, Vernon, wrote on X that he had saved his neighbor in Spain in a bucket.

"No one here, including the elderly, has experienced rain for 19 days from the last 20 days. It's hard, it keeps going all night long," he wrote.