Laurence Dollimore
THIS is the dramatic moment police in Spain launched a rescue operation amid freak summer floods in the Balearic Islands.
Videos shared by the Guardia Civil show helicopters flying above a large area of flooded land on the island of Menorca on Thursday.
It came after a so-called DANA weather front brought severe storms and rainfall, causing rivers and streams to overflow.
The footage shows agents being lowered down to multiple homes before carrying residents and their pets up to the helicopter hovering above.
Another clip shows a family being rescued from a car that was part-submerged in muddy water.
In a press release the force said: “Officers evacuated a family from inside a vehicle that had broken down due to the accumulation of water in Alaior.
“They also carried out the rescue of the occupants of a vehicle that was overturned and being dragged by the water current in the town of Es Mercadal.
“They then helped two women aged 102 and 90, both with reduced mobility due to their homes being flooded with water, in the town of Es Mercadal.”
It continued: “They proceeded to evacuate nine adults and two minors from a flooded penthouse
with the possibility of the roof collapsing due to the accumulated water.
“Several patrols carried out the evacuation of 31 people from the upper floor of a Nursing Home.”
It added: “The Guardia Civil Air Service, together with GREIM agents intervened in the rescue of 16 people, among whom was an elderly lady in need of her medication, nine minors and five pets.
“The people were rescued when they were already on the roof of their homes due to the large volume of water that was already flooding their homes.”
