BANK HOLIDAY WASH OUT

PALMA
THE first belts of Autumn torrential rain lashed the Balearics yesterday causing widespread problems across the region and the weather alerts are not expected to be lifted until later this morning.

Yesterday, the north and north east of Majorca and all of Minorca were on level two orange alert while the rest of the region was on level one.
But, it was not just the torrential rain which caused isolated flooding and landslides disrupting traffic and leading to road closures. The fierce winds peaking at force 8, 80 kilometres per hour, forced Minorca to close all of its ports to merchant and commercial shipping for over seven hours while crossings from Palma and Ibiza were also disrupted.

The extreme weather not only ruined the Bank Holiday here in the Balearics but also caused severe problems across the country with over 20 lives lost on the roads by midday yesterday, nearly double the total of road deaths during the same period last year.

Here in the Balearics, the worst of the problems were caused between midnight Monday and 1pm yesterday afternoon when the torrential rain began to disperse.

The 112 emergency centre reported that during that period, the emergency services were called out to 72 weather related incidents.
The majority were in Palma where fire fighters had to pump out flooded basements and car parks, cordon off crumbling balconies and either shore up a number of trees or remove those already blown over.

At least ten roads also had to be cleared of debris blown across the carriageways posing a serious danger to traffic in the difficult driving conditions.

In the Sierra Tramontana , there was a further spate of rock falls, one involving a giant bolder which blocked the Estellencs road.
Three rivers in Palma and Andratx burst their banks, although this time, Andratx managed to escape the worst of the storm although a number of front line properties were flooded.

Electrical engineers also had to repair six minor power cuts in the capital.
Overall, Majorca was the island punished the most by the storm with the emergency services having to respond to a total of 68 incidents across the island.

Severe flooding hit the centre and south of Majorca with hectares of farm land under water and a number of roads barely passable. In the north and north east, sun shades and sun beds, still out for late holiday arrivals, were washed away by the high seas.

In Minorca, the emergency services were called out on just eight occasions.
The Civil protection department yesterday reissued its warnings for people to stay away from the coast and the mountains, to make sure all windows are firmly closed and that terraces and balconies are clear of any objects which could get blown away by the wind.

Drivers are again urged to proceed with extreme caution as conditions will continue to be potentially dangerous today.