Record rainfall in central Spain produced catastrophic floods that closed highways, metro lines, and connections for high-speed trains, leaving at least three people dead and three missing, according to police on Monday.
Emergency services said that helicopters were dispatched to Toledo, which is located about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of Madrid, to rescue residents who had taken refuge on their homes’ roofs.
In the provinces of Madrid, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, and Valencia, the torrential deluge on Sunday and early Monday turned roadways into rivers of mud that carried away cars and trash cans. In numerous locations, hail also fell.
Three people lost their lives in the rural areas surrounding Toledo, where the weather service AEMET recorded a record Sunday rainfall of 90 litres per square meter.
Police reported that one of the casualties was a young man who was caught in a lift that became submerged in water, while another victim was inside a car that flooded.
A 50-year-old man who had been reported missing was the third individual to pass away. In the late afternoon, his body was discovered floating in a river not far from his Camarena, Mexico, home.
“It just kept raining, and we were a little scared, but we were indoors, so we were safe,” said Isabella Stewart, a U.S. missionary living in Toledo, as she boarded a bus.
Ruben Gonzalez, a different Toledo resident, stated: “I live four blocks away, and it was really strong. Everywhere is submerged. This is absurd.
The cut-off low phenomenon, also known as weatherman’s misery, which had brought on the downpour, was beginning to leave the nation, according to AEMET later on Monday.
Firefighters and police were looking for one man in the rural Aldea del Fresno area, southwest of Madrid, according to emergency services, who reported that they responded to about 1,200 occurrences in the Madrid area over the course of the previous night.
The man and his son vanished after their vehicle was pulled into the Alberche River by an avalanche brought on by an abrupt spate.
The young person was saved after scaling a tree, according to the Madrid emergency services.
Rescuers were also searching for a woman who vanished in a similar manner close to Toledo and an 84-year-old man who was dragged away by mud and water in Villamanta, west of Madrid.
As a result of water overflowing the riverbanks, several roads in the Madrid area were shut down, and half a dozen bridges were destroyed.
The defence ministry reported that after the original bridge was washed away, army engineers were sent to Aldea del Fresno to construct a so-called Bailey bridge, a sort of transportable truss bridge, to link the banks.
The majority of the city’s subway service was restored during the morning, according to a statement from metro operator Metro de Madrid, even though many subway lines in downtown Madrid were closed early on Monday.
While some of the high-speed links between Madrid and Andalusia’s southern area had been restored, trains were still moving slower than usual.
