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The strong wind and the rains in the borrasca Beatrice They have left more than 300 incidents in Galicia, diverted flights in Bilbao, at least two injured by falling trees in Pontevedra and Bizkaia, as well as a forest fire that is still active in the town of Balmaseda.
The intense storm, the second of the season, just after Armand, has put under meteorological alert this Sunday to twelve northern communities and from the northwestern half of the country due to winds of more than 110 kilometers per hour and heavy rainfall.
In addition to Galicia, in orange, due to rains with accumulations of more than 40 liters per square meter, along with strong winds and waves up to 8 meters, four other regions are under notice with the same level of risk due to one or more of the above circumstances. Is about Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, and La Rioja.
To these are added, although in yellow, with a slightly lower risk, seven other communities on alert: Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Madrid, Navarra and the Basque Country, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
The community of Extremadura is especially concerned, as it can accumulate 40 liters of water per square meter in 12 hours in Cáceres, where the winds will reach up to 80 kilometers per hour. Badajoz was already strongly affected on Saturdayafter its streets became pools of water and the firefighters had to attend to numerous incident calls.
Galicia registers more than 300 incidents due to the storm
In the last few hours, according to Aemet data, there have been very strong gusts in various parts of the north of the countryup to 132 kilometers and 131 kilometers per hour at the Valdezcaray station (La Rioja) and Cap de Vaquèira (Lleida), respectively, and 76 kilometers per hour at the Vitoria airport, among others.
Regarding rainfall, the accumulations in Galicia stand out: for example, 69 liters per square meter at O Rosal station (Pontevedra)50.6 liters in the municipality of Rois or 43.3 liters per square meter in Santiago de Compostela, both in A Coruña.
In the Galician community, 112 has registered 331 incidents, and one person was injured when a tree fell on the car in which he was driving in Mondariz (Pontevedra), which also caused the road to be blocked. The emergency services can also be careful with the sea storm, since the waves in some points of the Galician coast can reach between 6 and 8 meters.
The fire in Balmaseda enters the control phase
In the Basque Country, the Government has activated the “special emergency plan for the risk of forest fires” in its “phase 1”, while a fire with several sources has broken out in the Balmaseda area (Bizkaia) and has affected 600 hectares, although it has already entered the control phase. This Monday the aerial means are incorporated for the extinction work.
The flames, however, have reached the province of Burgos, as confirmed by the director of Emergencies of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Pedro Izaga, in an interview with Canal 24H. At least two homes have been affected and several are at risk. In addition, some 17 people have had to be evicted and this Monday the UME has joined.
A total of 75 people with 16 vehicles and more than thirty troops are working to extinguish the fire. These teams focus their work on the border area between Balmaseda and Zalla, where there is the greatest risk to people and property, according to the same sources. weather forecasts They point to the wind abating in the next few hourswhich would facilitate the extinction work.
The Encartaciones region of Biscay is the area most affected in the Basque Country by the strong gusts of wind that blow and have caused trees and branches to fall on different roads in Bizkaia -also in areas of Gipuzkoa-. This has caused Adif has cut rail traffic in Balmaseda before 11:00 a.m..
in Barakaldoa man has been injured when a container hit him who has been displaced by the wind on Anaitasuna street in the Vizcaya town, for which reason he has had to be transferred to the Cruces hospital.
Flights diverted in Bilbao by the wind
Nine flights have had to be diverted at the Bilbao airport due to the strong wind; two of them, coming from Madrid with a scheduled landing in Bilbao, have returned to their starting point, and three from Palma, London and Bristol, among others, have diverted to Barcelona airport.
But not only the north is being hit by the storm; in the case of Madrid, the intense rains will accumulate, according to the predictions of the Aemet, up to 40 liters in twelve hours in the mountainsand the wind will blow with intensity of up to 80 kilometers per hour, especially on the peaks.
In Aragon, they are also expected winds above 100 kilometers per hour; that go up to 110 kilometers per hour in some points of Cantabria and Burgos. Rainfall will accumulate up to 40 liters per square meter in twelve hours in the central system of Ávila and Salamanca.
The rains in Castilla-La Mancha, meanwhile, will accumulate up to 40 liters per square meter in Toledo and the gusts will reach up to 80 kilometers per hour in areas such as Parameras de Molina (Guadalajara).
