Floods in Spain: two dead and three missing after torrential rains

MADRID, Sept 4 (Reuters) – At least two people were killed and three are missing when record rains triggered heavy flooding in central Spain, blocking roads, metro lines and high-speed train connections, authorities said on Monday.

Helicopters were sent to rescue people who had taken refuge on the roofs of their homes in the Toledo area, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Madrid, emergency services said.

The sudden downpour on Sunday and early Monday turned the streets into rivers of mud that washed away cars and garbage containers in the regions of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia and Valencia. Hail also fell in many areas.

Two people died in the countryside around the central city of Toledo, where the AEMET weather service recorded a record rainfall of 90 liters per square meter on Sunday.

“It was still raining and we were a little scared, but we were inside so we were safe,” said Isabella Stewart, an American missionary living in Toledo, as she boarded a bus.

Another resident of Toledo, Rubén González, said: “I live four blocks away and it was very strong. Everything is flooded. This is crazy.”

In the Madrid region, emergency services responded to nearly 1,200 incidents overnight and firefighters and police were searching for a man in the rural area of ​​Aldea del Fresno, southwest of Madrid, emergency services said.

The man disappeared with his son when their car was swept into the Alberche River after an avalanche caused by a flash flood.

“The minor was rescued after climbing a tree,” reported the Madrid emergency service.

Rescue teams were also looking for a woman who went missing under similar circumstances near Toledo and an 84-year-old man who was swept away by currents of water and mud in Villamanta, west of Madrid.

Several highways in the Madrid region were closed while half a dozen bridges were demolished by the water that overflowed the banks of the river.

The precipitation, while still heavy in some places, is expected to lessen later on Monday. The National Meteorological Agency lowered the alert level to yellow on Monday from orange and red on Sunday.

Several metro lines were closed in central Madrid early on Monday, although service was restored to most of the city in the morning and only a few stations near the Manzanares river remained closed around midday, the operator said. of Metro de Madrid in a statement. statement.

Some high-speed connections between Madrid and the southern region of Andalusia have resumed, but trains were running at slower than normal speeds.

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