“We had the impression that it was the end of the world”.

This is how Joan Roig, the mayor of Alcanar, described the downpours that fell on his town on Wednesday.

Described as "very exceptional" by the authorities of Catalonia (northeast), the precipitation that fell on Wednesday in Spain devastated some towns and left impressive damage on Thursday.

Scenes of vehicles washed away, streets transformed into torrents of mud were observed in several towns where the police came to the rescue of motorists trapped in their car while 83 people had to be evacuated from their homes. home that they were to return to Thursday.

No casualties were to be deplored.

"Consequence of the climate emergency"

During a trip to Guadalajara (center), the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his “solidarity” with the victims of “these terrible floods” which are a “consequence of the climate emergency”.

In the neighboring region of Valencia, the flood disrupted the organization of the Fallas, festivals featuring parades of floats and giant cardboard figurines.

The meteorological situation will continue "to be complicated in several areas of the center and the east" in the coming hours, warned Ruben del Campo, spokesman for the national meteorological agency (AEMET).

He further explained that climate change is making these extreme phenomena more frequent in Spain, especially on the Mediterranean coast.

Floods soon to be twice as deadly

In September 2019, seven people died in floods in the south-east of the country and, in 2018, thirteen people died on the island of Mallorca, in the Balearic archipelago.

With global warming, the atmosphere contains more water vapor, increasing the chances of heavy precipitation episodes, scientists say.

These rains, associated with other factors linked in particular to land use planning, promote flooding.

Without adaptation measures, with an additional degree of warming, the floods will kill twice as many people as compared to the end of the 20th century, according to a draft report by UN climate experts (IPCC).

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