Spain Just Got an Entire Year’s Worth of Rain in One Day
This is what an increasingly unpredictable climate looks like
If you’re glued to the US election, you might not have heard about one of Spain’s biggest natural disasters in decades.
But it’s the stuff of nightmares.
On October 30th, a sudden drop in atmospheric pressure (known as a DANA) dumped an entire year’s worth of rain in Valencia and Murcia, causing flash floods all across towns and villages in the east of Spain.
What’s unique about this particular disaster is that weather forecasters warned people that a strong DANA system was coming days in advance, but no one could have predicted anything like what happened.
Because this storm was something new.
The speed and ferocity of this unprecedented rainfall caused rivers to surge and overflow their banks — in as little as 30 minutes in some areas — giving many residents little to no warning to seek safety and higher ground.
Bridges failed, houses were shredded, cars and trucks were swept into piles like toys. And as of October 31st, 158 people in Spain have been killed by the flooding.
And the death toll is likely to climb as rescuers continue to sift through debris.
