Madrid in lockdown due to ‘red alert’ flooding

Due to the anticipation of heavy rain and storms, Madrid residents, residing in the capital of Spain, have received advice to remain indoors.

Spain’s official weather agency, AEMET, gave a very serious warning, called a red alert, which means there could be extreme danger. This warning is for the Madrid region, Toledo province, and the city of Cadiz.

The agency said that in Madrid, there could be as much as 120 liters of rain per square meter in a 12-hour period.

Additionally, the emergency services sent texts to people in the capital city to warn them about the dangers and tell them it is not safe to drive cars.

The mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, posted a message on social media asking the people of Madrid to stay at home today because there will be very heavy rain which is unusual and could break records.

Officials said they were “hoping for a good result” after a father and son disappeared during the flooding.

Javier Chivite, the person who speaks for the emergency services in the area, said: ‘Two people are gone, a dad and his son. They were in a car that got trapped in a rush of water from the Alberche river, which caused an avalanche. ‘

‘We expect that this will result in something good. ‘

The LaLiga canceled a night game between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid because of an emergency.
In just the city of Madrid, firefighters have been asked to handle flooding 190 times.

The floods in Madrid also caused problems for the Metro system. Train lines between Madrid and Valencia were stopped.

In Alcanar, a place in Tarragona, located on Spain’s east coast, the authorities have asked people to stay inside their houses because of heavy rain. 215 liters of rain per square meter fell in the past day, causing flooding in the area.
In the eastern province of Castelló, there was a lot of water from heavy rains. Firefighters had to save a man who was stuck in his car because the water was up to his waist. The BBC told the story.

Some roads in Madrid were blocked and a few bridges were destroyed by rivers that were overflowing and moving quickly, according to the Independent.

Mr Martinez-Almeida said he believes there will be a lot of rain in Madrid, which is very unusual. It may even break the previous record from 1972.

After a period of very hot weather in August, Spain is now experiencing heavy rain. The highest temperature ever recorded in the Andalusia region during the heatwave was 47. 2°C

Spain’s weather agency said that in the past 10 years, they have seen 24 heatwaves. This is twice as many as what they had in each of the previous three decades.