The strong wind and the rains of the borrasca Beatrice They caused more than 300 accidents in Galicia, diverted flights to Bilbao, at least two injured by falling trees in Pontevedra and Bizkaia, as well as a still active forest fire in the city of Balmaseda.
The intense storm, the second of the season, immediately after Armand, put him under Weather alert this Sunday to twelve northern communities and from the northwestern half of the country by winds of over 110 kilometers per hour and heavy rains.
In addition to Galicia, in orange, due to rainfall with accumulations of over 40 liters per square meter, along with strong winds and waves up to 8 meters, four other regions are on alert with the same level of risk due to one or more of the above circumstances. is approx Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León and La Rioja.
To these are added, albeit in yellow, with a slightly lower risk, seven other communities on alert: Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Madrid, Navarre and the Basque Country, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
Of particular concern is the community of Extremadura, which can accumulate 40 liters of water per square meter in 12 hours in Cáceres, where winds will reach 80 kilometers per hour. Badajoz was already heavily hit on Saturdayafter its streets became water ponds and firefighters had to answer numerous accident calls.
Galicia has more than 300 storm accidents
In the last few hours, according to Aemet’s data, there have been very strong gusts in various parts of the north of the countryup to 132 kilometers and 131 kilometers per hour respectively at Valdezcaray (La Rioja) and Cap de Vaquèira (Lleida) stations, and 76 kilometers per hour at Vitoria airport, among others.
As for rainfall, accumulations in Galicia stand out: for example, 69 liters per square meter at O Rosal station (Pontevedra)50.6 liters in the municipality of Rois or 43.3 liters per square meter in Santiago de Compostela, both in A Coruña.
In the Galician community, 112 recorded 331 incidents, and one person was injured when a tree fell on the car he was traveling in in Mondariz (Pontevedra), also causing the road to close. Emergency services can also be wary of the sea storm, as the waves in some parts of the Galician coast can reach between 6 and 8 meters.
The Balmaseda fire enters the control phase
In the Basque Country, the government activated the “Special emergency plan for the risk of forest fires” in its “phase 1”, while in the Balmaseda area a fire broke out with several sources (Bizkaia), although it has already entered the control phase. The flames, however, reached the province of Burgos, as confirmed by the Emergency Director of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Pedro Izaga, in an interview with Canal 24H. At least one home has been hit and many are at risk. In addition, around 17 people had to be evicted.
A total of 75 people with 16 vehicles and more than thirty soldiers are working to extinguish the fire. These teams focus their work in the border area between Balmaseda and Zalla, where there is the greatest risk to people and goods, according to the same sources. weather forecast indicate that the wind is dying out in the next few hourswhich would facilitate the extinction work.
“#IFBalmaseda | The flames have already reached the province of Burgos.
Pedro Izaga, Emergency Director of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, in # Canal24Horahttps://t.co/1YKsdzRMNS pic.twitter.com/EbLI65YRSa“
– RTVE News (@rtvenocias) 23 October 2022
The Biscay region of Encartaciones is the area most affected in Euskadi by the strong gusts of wind that caused the fall of trees and branches on several roads in Bizkaia – also in the areas of Gipuzkoa-. This caused Adif stopped rail traffic in Balmaseda before 11am..
in Barakaldoa man was injured when a container hit him which was moved by the wind to Anaitasuna Street in the city of Biscayan, for which it had to be transferred to Cruces Hospital.
Flights diverted to Bilbao by the wind
Nine flights were diverted to Bilbao airport due to strong winds; two of them, coming from Madrid with scheduled landing in Bilbao, returned to the starting point and three from Palma, London and Bristol, among others, were diverted to Barcelona airport.
But not only the north is hit by the storm; In the case of Madrid, heavy rains will accumulate, according to Aemet’s forecasts, up to 40 liters in twelve hours in the mountainsand the wind will blow with intensity up to 80 kilometers per hour, especially on the peaks.
They are also expected in Aragon winds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour; up to 110 kilometers per hour in some parts of Cantabria and Burgos. Precipitation will accumulate up to 40 liters per square meter in twelve hours in the central system of Ávila and Salamanca.
The rains in Castilla-La Mancha, meanwhile, will accumulate up to 40 liters per square meter in Toledo and the gusts will reach up to 80 kilometers per hour in areas such as Parameras de Molina (Guadalajara).
