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ARCHIVED - Torrential rain leads to weekend flash flooding and landslides in Alicante
A large wall collapsed on top of several cars in Calpe in the Marina Baixa area of Alicante province
Relentless torrential downpours over the last few days led to widespread chaos in Alicante province over the weekend as the intense rainfall continued, bursting riverbanks, swamping roads and cutting off more than 100 roads.
An incredible 100l/m2 fell in just 12 hours in Calpe on Saturday March 26, and the rain continued through the night leading to the collapse of a large retainer wall at Calpe promenade on Sunday morning.
Shocked neighbours living on the Empedrola II urbanisation, which shares the wall with the beach, reported hearing a loud crash and, running out of their homes to see what the commotion was, discovered a huge mound of rubble on top of several parked cars.
In addition to extensive damage to the beach itself, the streets of Calpe, many of which are steep slopes, were transformed into gushing rivers as the torrents of water made their way to the sea and opened large gullies in the sand.
As a safety precaution, the Civil Protection closed the town's beaches, cutting off access with temporary fencing.
During the squall front of the last two weeks, up to 700l/m2 has fallen in many areas in the north of the province, leaving reserves for the whole year and filling aquifers, saving farmers who work the 200,000 hectares of irrigtated land as much as 60 million euros.
But for everybody else, the persisitent lashings have cost money and caused major headaches.
Marina Alta
In addition to flooding in Calpe, the neighbouring town of Javea in the Marina Alta area of the province suffered road closures and unpassable streets as the water level of the Gorgos River continued to rise invading the main Pou de Moro road.
Local Police, Civil Protection and Red Cross were all on standby, and fortunately, didn't have to evacuate any residents, although traditionally flood-prone areas remained on alert throughout the weekend.
By Sunday morning, the river flow had "stablised", according to the Town Hall, but was "still overflowing", though the water no longer reached Calle Pou de Moro.
The paths that cross River Gorgos path are still closed and the council has asked the public to "maintain caution" in and around the area.
Marina Baixa
Incessant rain in the Marina Baixa area of the province saw the Fuentes del Algar, 15km from Benidorm, turned into a torrential river, and in Guadalest, the reservoir has had to open its floodgates to relieve water after reaching maximum capacity.
In Altea, the Town Hall released a statement on social networks on Sunday warning that the Sogai and Matadero bridges had been closed to vehicles and pedestrians due to the flooding of the Algar River.
You might like: Sudden sinkhole in Murcia city causes more road closures
Images: Costa Blanca Pete / Twitter / Ayuntamiento de Javea
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