Rodalies network, roads, and airport return to normality as thunderstorm ceases

"The worst phase of the Dana storm is over," said Catalan president Salvador Illa in a press conference after a long day of disruptions across Catalonia due to severe weather.

Since the early hours of Monday, heavy rains have hit many areas, especially around Barcelona, with over 150 liters of rain per square meter falling in a matter of hours in some places.

The weather episode is due to a 'cold drop' or Dana, a unique weather phenomenon that occurs every fall and brings torrential downpours.

Although this phenomenon is difficult to predict, authorities issued a severe weather alert early in the day, which was received on the phones of everyone in the affected areas, raising awareness and helping to prevent significant damage.

While there were dramatic images of flooded roads and heavy rains, no injuries were reported, but the weather event caused widespread travel disruptions. 

The alert began in the early hours of Monday morning, when the Catalan Civil Protection issued a mobile phone alert to residents in Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, Garraf, Maresme, Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental, and Selva counties urging people to limit movement and avoid approaching riverbanks or ravines.

In the next hours, messages were also sent to other counties in Catalonia warning of continued and heavy storms.

Thunderstorms during the night had already impacted transportation, and early in the morning, R2 South and R4 South lines and those going to the south and Lleida were suspended.

After the alerts began to arrive in the morning, Spain's public train operator Renfe decided to suspend all Rodalies commuter trains across Catalonia, except for the RL3 between Lleida and Cervera, leaving thousands stranded.

Besides the train disruption, Renfe also halted bus services due to the Roda de Berà tunnel works.

Authorities also suspended high speed trains from Barcelona to Madrid due to flooding in the tunnel that passes through the city of El Prat de Llobregat. However, the service resumed a few hours later.

When the weather situation improved, Renfe and Adif operators began inspections of all tracks to determine whether they have been affected.

At 5pm,  service of commuter trains gradually resumed in the lines R1, R2 South and R4.

Floods in airport

Storms caused major disruptions at Barcelona airport, including flooding some parts of the infrastructure.

Many videos on social media show water leaks inside the terminal and many floods outside, such as parking areas or corridors connecting different buildings.

The storms have forced the airport manager AENA to cancel 153 flights. 

Throughout the day, the airport set up a crisis committee to monitor the various disruptions at the airport. Metro and Rodalies services were also suspended.

"Do not leave your homes and do not commute to work," said Sergio Delgado, Deputy Director of Civil Protection Programs, in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio.

In addition, Civil Protection recommended families not to pick up children from schools because they are "a safe space." Workers were also advised to stay in their workplace as the general message is to "avoid all mobility."

These regions join other counties under heavy restrictions, including Baix Ebre, Montsià, Terra Alta, Ribera d'Ebre, Baix Camp, Priorat, Tarragonès, Alt Camp, and Baix Penedès.

According to the Catalan traffic system, many roads were blocked due to landslides and flooding in Tarragona, Ebre, and Baix Llobregat. These included the A-27 in Valls, which collapsed, as well as floods in the TV-3454 in Deltebre, the C-31B in Salou, and the Can Prunera road in Vallirana. Widespread traffic jams were also affecting the road network.

The C-32 road reopened around 2 pm after being closed because of flooding that took place in Monday morning.

The Pineda Avenue in Castelldefels was also completely flooded during the morning, as was the bridge for the train railway. Many residents and cars in the area were affected.

Several universities across Catalonia have also suspended classes, such as Barcelona's University of Barcelona and the University Pompeu Fabra, which asked all students and staff not to commute to or off the education center.

On a similar note, the Autonomous University of Barcelona recommended that students not travel to the center if they live in one of the areas under a thunderstorm warning.

Llobregat river almost at 250m3

The flow of the Llobregat river at around Sant Vicenç dels Horts is almost 250 m3 per second after the storms that took place in Catalonia.

More specifically, the flow went from 13 m3/second to 241.5 m3/second during Monday morning storms, according to the Catalan Water Agency (ACA).

In the city of Tarragona, in southern Catalonia, the storm registered 150 liters of water per square meter in an hour. The storm has affected many areas in the city, especially the area of Móra, where two families had to be evacuated by emergency services. 

In cities like Viladecans, outside of Barcelona, there have been 131 mm registered on Monday, which accounts for half of all the rain of 2023 (230.5 mm). 

Valencia flood recovery continues

The Spanish interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has confirmed the current number of victims is 217 in all of Spain, most of them being in Valencia.

Grande-Marlaska has not informed of the number of people missing: "It is not easy to specify the number of missing people, it is better to not establish a number," the minister said on an interview in Spanish national broadcaster TVE. 

In Valencia, firefighters and rescue teams continue their tasks to clean and drain parkings such as the one in Aldaia, in the Bonaire shopping center, where there is capacity for 5,000 cars.

The emergency teams have not found any victims so far after inspecting the first 50 vehicles. The first inspections of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) revealed that there were fewer vehicles in the parking than initially especulated.