Powerful storms rage across Spanish Mediterranean coastline

Powerful storms battered areas across the Spanish Mediterranean Coastline on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, with strong winds and heavy rain. Torrential rain caused transport disruption in Mallorca due to floods while the Balearic Islands experienced record rainfall in the last 12 hours.

​As many as six rivers in Mallorca were flooded, affecting traffic on several roads. Emergency services attended to roughly 70 storm-related incidents, 59 of which have been in Mallorca, seven in Ibiza, two in Menorca, and one in Formentera.

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One of the most severely hit roads was the Sencelles-Inca road. Moreover, the MA-3017 road in the municipality of Marratxí has been blocked. Train services were also disrupted.

In Ibiza, firefighters responded to a gas leak and two fires triggered by lightning in different portions of Mallorca. Around 8 800 lightning strikes have been detected on the islands, particularly in coastal areas.

The Port of La Sabina de Formentera has also been closed due to strong winds between Tuesday afternoon, December 3, to Wednesday morning. 

The worst affected municipalities were Palma, Soller, Santa Maria del Cami, Algaida, and Manacor.

Storms in the Balearic Islands have brought record rainfall in the last 12 hours-- 123 mm (5 inches) fell in Santa Maria del Carmi, said the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).

Winds gusting to 90 km/h (56 mph) have been recorded in the Puig de Alfabia, and strong winds were reported in Capdepera, Portocolom, Llucmajor, Sant Antoni de Portmany, and Son Servera.

Residents in Sa Taulera and Son Duerta were left without electricity.

A flooding plan had been activated for the Balearic Islands prior to the storms, but some areas were still under orange alert.

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