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ARCHIVED - Worse gota fría flooding in Murcia was avoided on Tuesday by preparatory precautions
Emergency services were mobilized and stormwater tanks emptied before the rain arrived
As the heavy rain moves away from the Costa Cálida after the second “gota fría” storm of this autumn there will doubtless be some people eager to criticize a perceived lack of preparation on the part of the regional government and various Town Halls, but in anticipation of this statements have already been issued explaining that infrastructures were as ready as they could possibly be as the storm clouds gathered on Monday.
Pre-emergency protocols were activated despite the forecast for a far less severe storm than the one which caused widespread flooding in Murcia in September and in the Mar Menor preventative steps against flooding were already being taken on Saturday. Water treatment stations were prepared to operate at full capacity and extra staff were drafted in, while stormwater tanks were emptied in order to be prepared for flooding in Los Alcázares, Torre Pacheco, San Javier and San Pedro del Pinatar. At the same time agricultural concerns in the Campo de Cartagena were required to empty their irrigation deposits in preparation and waste disposal businesses in the valley of Escombreras were placed on the alert to take all necessary precautions.
At the same time a fleet of 48 items of heavy machinery were placed at the ready to deal with any incidents involving roads closed by flooding, and 53 people were on stand-by to assist the team of 73 operating this equipment and another 81 machines.
As things turned out the sheer volume of rain which fell during Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday morning – over 100 millimetres in 3 hours in Los Alcázares according to the CHS - did cause flooding, and it could (and almost certainly will) be argued again that more flood protection infrastructures are needed, but at the same time the regional government clearly attempted to make full use of all of the tools at its disposal.
Similarly, it was reported by the CHS on Monday that the reservoir of Santomera, from which water has been progressively released since the storm in September after it reached the very brim of the dam, had at last returned to the minimal level of water it is designed to hold. It should be borne in mind that this reservoir was built primarily as a flood prevention infrastructure than in order to provide water supply, and that it has taken so long to bring the water level down is due to the fact that to increase the rate would have been to risk further flooding on the flood plain of the River Segura.