Alex Trelinski
€2.5 MILLION has been allocated to the Valencian Government to protect Orihuela’s Vega Baja Hospital against flooding after services came close to collapsing during the September 2019 storms,
A 1.25 metre-high perimeter wall is viewed as a solution along with a water storage area close to the hospital, which embarked on a €70 million expansion project in March.
The hospital is located just a few metres from the Segura river between Jacarilla and Benejuzar which threatened to break its banks in September 2019 but it did not happen with flooding occurring further away at Almoradi.
Nevertheless, the hospital was left cut off by road due to the flooding of the CV-91 in various sections and other access routes to Orihuela City.
The sewage network could not cope as water gushed out of toilets and sinks on the hospital’s ground floor and some operating rooms, leading to the postponement of routine procedures.
The General Directorate of Water recommends the construction of a 1.25 metre-high perimeter wall and since expansion works which started in March have a fence, small modifications can be made to reduce flood risks, as well as building a sustainable drainage system, which can store rainwater for its subsequent transfer out of the area.
The project also contemplates the creation of a storage pond by the hospital once a new drainage system has been laid down.
A tender is expected to be advertised later this summer for the execution and construction of the flood defences as well as the expropriation of any required land.
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