1693785392 Almeida calls on Madrid residents to stay at home in

Almeida calls on Madrid residents to “stay at home” in the face of “extraordinary and unusual” damage.

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Almeida calls on Madrid residents to stay at home in

Contrary to what happened when the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) activated the red advisory in Madrid due to the Filomena storm in 2021, this Sunday the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has a clear and forceful message sent to the citizens He has asked not to leave the house this afternoon as he prepares for a real deluge by Madrid standards. On the day it started snowing, Almeida said Madrid was prepared and it was possible to circulate without problems. Faced with a new red notice, which, however, was due to the rain, he has decided to exercise extreme caution: “The best way to maintain physical integrity is not to go out and to completely minimize unnecessary trips.” However, it came in There were no serious incidents in the capital, as the expected brutal accumulations of water were not registered. In the region where it fell the most, it was 80, according to the Aemet network, although the amateur network Meteoclimatic measured 125 in Robledo and 90 in Navalcarnero.

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This Sunday at nine a.m. Aemet extended the red advisory to the capital, the metropolitan area, the mountains and the Henares corridor, the maximum on a scale of three that it already activated on Saturday at 11 p.m. In the Southern, Vegas and western areas of the region are at risk of 120 liters of water per square meter accumulating and falling rapidly within 12 hours – at an intensity of 60 liters per hour.

At midday, the mayor described the situation as “extraordinary and anomalous” because “a historical record from 1972” could be broken – on September 21st of this year, 87 liters fell in 24 hours, and 120 liters are expected this Sunday 12 ―. The recommendation to stay at home is made in addition to citizens’ own safety in order to ensure the mobility of emergency services.

After the coordination meeting with the leaders of the services involved in the Flood Action Plan (Painunam), the Mayor assured that the City Council has reinforced the emergency services and Samur Social, whose personnel move to the city’s settlements to offer shelter alternatives to those who have no shelter . For their part, the city hall firefighters have drawn up a map showing the areas where flooding or heavy rainfall usually occurs.

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In an initial assessment at 6:30 p.m., the capital’s municipal services “did not register any serious incidents,” according to a spokesman for Emergencies Madrid. “They all report various incidents (already solved or in progress), mostly falling branches, small floods and ponds on public roads and in some tunnels, as well as social assistance in various places,” he added.

In the subway, There was a traffic delay on the L11 around 5:30 p.m., between La Fortuna and La Peseta stations, due to a water accumulation that was restored at 9:30 p.m. There are currently no further incidents reported in the suburban network. In addition, the Atlético de Madrid-Sevilla match, scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m., had to be postponed and the 12 de Octubre Hospital experienced significant flooding in one of its plants, near the operating rooms.

In the municipality, 112 managed 588 rain warnings between 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with 451 fire brigade operations, the most important in Navalcarnero, El Álamo, Arroyomolinos, Sevilla La Nueva, Alcalá de Henares and Meco which are mostly water ponds on public roads . “No particular relevance,” emphasized a spokesman.

By 10:00 p.m., 80.5 liters were recorded in the Aemet observatories in Villanueva de la Cañada, 57.8 in Navacerrada, 45 in Pozuelo, 43 in Rascafría, 36 in the capital and in San Sebastián de los Reyes, as well as 35.2 Liters collected in Alcalá de Henares. At around 6:00 p.m. the sky has made a truce and the rain has left Madrid on the way to Segovia, without leaving the “extraordinary amounts” predicted by Aemet, although the night still continues. Since 9:00 p.m., when the storms were reactivated in the western part of the region, firefighters have carried out another 140 operations in Aldea del Fresno, Villa Del Prado, Villamanta, Villamantilla and Navalcarnero due to flooding on public roads and garages, causing problems on the roads M-507, M-510, M-524 and M-540. In addition, the M-501 was interrupted westbound at kilometer 25 and drivers were rerouted towards Madrid.

And what happened to the 120 liters planned in the capital? Miguel Ángel Pelacho, delegate of Aemet Madrid, explains that “due to the Dana movement, the rainfall was more localized to the west of Madrid and in the mountains and not so much in the city”, emphasizing that the rainfall ranges between 70 and 30 These are not negligible amounts within 12 hours. Pelacho defends the decision to impose the maximum notice period: “If the models [de predicción] “They give a warning of a situation between orange and red, out of caution they tend to go red, especially if it involves a large population.”

This time, unlike Filomena, authorities have taken preventive measures in the face of worsening forecasts. The capital city council The parks were closed, tunnels with an above-ground alternative and all municipal facilities such as sports centers or cultural centers. The M-30 tunnels, however, remain open. In the case of the parks, the city council corrected the original decision and announced the closure at around 11:30 a.m., since the original plan was to keep them open, but with restrictions and marked areas.

For its part, the Community of Madrid has activated emergency level 1 of the special plan for the risk of flooding and, for the first time in this region and in the same way as it happens in the United States during hurricanes, sent a text message to the people of Madrid with three requests: to stay at home, to avoid using the car and to only call 112 in emergency situations. This system, which has been active for a year, has been used in other parts of the country, for example in the August fire in Tenerife. In addition, cultural and sports facilities were closed.

This measure concerns the Canal Theaters, the Puerta de Hierro sports complexes, Canal de Isabel II, the Mundial-86 and San Vicente de Paul swimming centers, the Luis Rosales (Carababanchel), Luis Martín Santos (Villa de Vallecas) and José Hierro (Usera) and to the regional museums Casa Lope de Vega (Madrid), Cervantes Birthplace and Regional Archaeological Museum (Alcalá de Henares), CA2M Museum Dos de Mayo Art Center (Móstoles), Manzanares el Real Castle and Nuevo Baztán. “Anyone who has purchased tickets for the meetings this afternoon has the option of exchanging them for another day or requesting a refund of the amount,” the state government said.

In Alcalá de Henares, the city council closed the fairgrounds and canceled the parade and events planned for the last day of its celebrations, just like Alcorcón. On the roads, the DGT called for “very great caution” and to avoid driving in the Community of Madrid and neighboring areas. Already on Saturday, 112 recommended Madrid residents to return early to avoid driving in the afternoon.

On the region’s roads, emergency checkpoints have 18 incidents on roads M-618, M-611, M-423, M-406, M-103, M-623 between 00:00 on Saturday and 20:00 on Sunday , M-535, M-530, M-513, M-608, M-413, M-610, M-327, M-610 and M-217 and M-423. “The main interventions were due to the spread of mud on the road, falling trees and puddles of water that affected the municipalities of Hoyo de Manzanares, Cobeña, Miraflores de la Sierra, Guadarrama, Valdemoro, Getafe, Villanueva de Perales and Boadilla del Monte, Moralzarzal, Humanes de Madrid, Loeches, Villamanrique de Tajo, Mejorada del Campo, Aldea del Fresno, Robledo de Chavela and Bustarviejo,” a traffic spokesman said.

In addition, the storm has complicated rail traffic and led to the closure of the Mediterranean corridor and delays to several trains originating in Madrid and arriving at destinations in the Valencian Community, Andalusia, Murcia or Castile-La Mancha.

As for air traffic, an Aena spokesperson has reported that Barajas Airport is “operational” despite “regulations due to adverse weather conditions”, which means “changes in planned operations in real time”, mainly “the period between operations” . “Ensure safety,” which has resulted in numerous delays and several cancellations.

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