'We'll have to throw everything away,' residents in southern Catalonia after torrential rain say

Severe storms in the Terres de l'Ebre area, in southern Catalonia, have especially affected the town of Montsià, with several zones with significant impact.

"We will have to throw everything away," Paquita, one of the residents in La Ràpita, said on Monday morning as she cleaned her kitchen and parking.

In the middle of the Méndez Núñez Street, water surpassed half a meter on Sunday evening, and residents complained as this is the third time a similar event has occurred in the last five years. They call for better water drainage.

"It was a bank holiday, we were all here having lunch with friends, then the ES-Alert alarm rang, and everyone left," Paquita said. "In ten minutes, everything was flooded," she added before explaining that she did not have time to move her newly bought car around.

She said that the water drainage was "horrible" and that this was "the second time that we had registered floods."

Another neighbor, Nòelia Borràs, said she was "quite anxious" at home with her children and explained that they stayed on the upper floor.

"We could not do anything else, we were seeing the rain from the balcony, and you just have to wait," she added. Borràs fears to have lost five cars, all indoors, but the parking was flooded.

Meanwhile, Joan Agustí Ramírez said that despite Sunday's rains being "sporadic," he added that "we experience similar events every two or three years."

Night in sports centers

Between 600 and 700 people spent the night at one of the sports centers in Amposta. Most of them were travelers who were surprised by the severe rain and the flooded and blocked AP-7 highway.

Those who live in the sports residence had to change rooms to leave space for families with children.

Meanwhile, the others spent the night at the sports hall with the Red Cross offering blankets and food.

Anna was traveling from Lleida and spent the afternoon in Cambrils, where it did not rain. Rain surprised the family in Amposta, on their way to their hometown of Sagunt, in the northern area of València.

"We changed route and all the options the GPS recommended were blocked," she said, while her partner Abel added that "all roads were blocked and all cars had no idea where to go."

The rain caused several issues; one person was severely injured, and 17 more had minor injuries.

Authorities canceled schools, and non-urgent medical appointments have been rescheduled for later days.

Flood alert in southern Catalonia was issued on Saturday, originally lasting until Sunday morning, but in the end remaining all day long. And, on Sunday evening, authorities decided to raise the level of alarm to 'emergency' after sending two alerts to phones in the Montsià county, at the beginning, and all southern coast a while later.