Intense but uneven rain drenches parts of Alicante

Torrevieja was particularly badly affected and the north of the province is still on alert

Rainfall readings in Torrevieja and surrounding areas

There was intense rainfall overnight in various municipalities around Alicante province.

The “112” emergency services coordination centre for the Valencian Community reported over 40mm in Santa Pola, just between 3am and 7.20am, at which time it was still raining there.

These figures also listed 36mm in Torrevieja, 34.4mm in Elche and 34.2mm in Xixona.

By mid-morning, the Proyecto Mastral weather service in Torrevieja had measured much larger amounts at some of its pluviometers.

The rain fell very unevenly, extremely heavily in some areas and much less in others, but averaging 50mm across the whole municipality.

At its most intense moments, the rainfall was measured at 274mm per hour.

The weather station in San Luis urbanisation recorded the most, a total of 72mm between yesterday and today at 9am.

Other notable spots in the surrounding area included La Mata (59.2mm), Rojales (58.6mm), Marina Salinas (50.2mm) and Aguas Nuevas (48.4mm).

No serious incidents were reported but beaches were damaged and there were problems at the usual black spots where water flooded streets in the town centre.

Playa de los Locos was particularly badly affected, despite investments in the drainage system over the last two decades, where videos showed communal bins floating down the street and the road had to be closed for a while.

And there was a wastewater spillage at Playa del Cura after the drain system flooded with rainwater, which required the intervention of the municipal cleaning service (Acciona) and water company (Agamed).

The interior of a restaurant was flooded with this wastewater, and the force of the flooding damaged foot taps and other municipal services on the beach.

Although the sand was covered with wet wipes and other residue from the sewer system, aside from the overpowering stench, the town hall did not issue any warning about the state of the beach.

The floodable parks at Doña Inés and Torrealmendros served their purpose and filled up, but rainwater still accumulated in some areas of Las Torretas, especially around Torrevigía secondary school and the flood basin alongside Calles Efrén Gurtiérrez and Golondrina.

Torrevieja town hall did not close its schools for today, but many other municipalities did, some of which hardly saw any rain in the end, particularly those further inland.

13 municipalities in Alicante province suspended classes for today due to the orange alert for rain, affecting a total of 39,161 pupils, according to the regional education department.

In Denia, where about 60mm of rain fell in the area of the hospital, two intensive care cubicles were flooded and had to be closed.

Buckets and other containers had to be put out to catch leaks in the hospital, and ambulances arriving at outpatients could not leave their patients there because the area was flooded.

The only part of the province that is still on alert is the north, from Alfaz del Pi inland to Alcoy and upwards, where there is an orange warning until 4pm and a yellow warning until 6pm.

Image 1: Proyecto Mastral

Image 2: Compromís