Intense rainfall leads to flooding and disruptions in southern Catalonia

Southern Catalonia, where the Ebre river meets the Mediterranean sea, is once again the site of extreme weather, with around 150 liters of rainfall per square meter by midday on Tuesday.

The 112 emergency hotline had, by noon, received around 100 calls from people in need of assistance due to the rain, while some highways have had to be cut off to traffic: TV-3421 from Sènia to Roquetes; C-12 to Tortosa; and TP-3311 between Santa Bàrbara and la Galera. A handful of people have had to be rescued from their vehicles.

This comes hours after Catalonia's meteorological service, Meteocat, issued an extreme weather warning for the Terres de l'Ebre region, and called on residents to exercise caution in the face of potential hailstorms and tornadoes.

Its low elevation and rising sea levels, coupled with land erosion resulting from a lack of sediment flow due to the large reservoirs scattered along the Ebre river, have made the Terres de l'Ebre region particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Authorities have advised locals to stay away from river banks as well as other places that can flood and to avoid parking cars nearby. 

The Barra del Trabucador isthmus, a narrow sandbar near the town of Sant Carles de la Ràpita that connects the mainland to the Punta de la Banya peninsula and protects the Alfacs Bay, has once again been flooded. 

Filling the Sink podcast

The threat of climate change is an ongoing issue, especially in the Ebre river delta and the Pyrenees, and was the subject of the Filling the Sink podcast released on January 22, 2021.

Press play below to listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.