Anthony Piovesan
More ferocious storms have been forecast to smash the Costa Blanca, right after cleanup efforts only just started to clear damage from the last wild storm.
Residents in the Valencia region and along Alicante’s Costa Blanca are bracing for more wild weather after torrential rain engulfed beaches and flooded town centres last weekend.
Damage to homes, businesses and beach bars was recorded as far north as Castellon de la Plana, about 70km north of Valencia, and as far south as Elche, just outside Alicante.
On Wednesday morning the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) issued a yellow warning for the Alicante region.
Forecasters warned that from about 5pm on Wednesday residents both inland and along the coast could expect storms with hail and about 20 liters of rain per square metre in just one hour.
The same yellow warning will be in force in the neighbouring region of Valencia.
The fresh weather warning comes just days after the two provinces were smashed with torrential rain last weekend.
Benidorm saw its worst flooding in years, with about 91 litres of rain per square metre dumped on the popular seaside resort in just one hour early on Sunday morning.
Records also exceeded 100l/m2 in Senija and reached 88.2l/m2 in the Serra Gelada and Alfanza del Pi.
Since 12pm on Saturday the Provincial Consortium of Firefighters of Alicante responded to 36 calls for help due to flash flooding, 28 of them in Marina Baixa and 20 in Benidorm.
Terraces and basements flooded quickly as water gushed along main streets in Benidorm such as Avenida Mediterraneo.
Residents and tourists were forced to walk through the rising water with bin bags over their legs.
One British tourist used the severe weather as an opportunity to swim naked in the street.
The footage was posted online to Instagram and quickly went viral.
But residents will need to wait for a reprieve in the inclimate weather, with more rainfall forecast beyond Wednesday’s yellow weather warning.
On Thursday showers and storms were predicted throughout the day, along the coast in the morning and moving inland in the afternoon.
Aemet said minimum temperatures would “hardly vary” and maximums would be lower – the wind will be variable with strong sea breezes.
READ MORE:
- WATCH: British naked tourists wallowing in puddles in Benidorm in Spain’s Costa Blanca caused by the heavy rains
- Heavy rain causes flooding and dramatic rescues in Spain’s Valencia area
- IN IMAGES: Torrential rain causes flooding across Costa del Sol
