The same horror movie, with homes, businesses, agricultural estates, streets, roads and public facilities flooded, with extensive damage, cars swept away by the water (12 rescues) and situations of anxiety and panic among the neighbors. The south of Catalonia, so often forgotten and belittled, took the brunt of the torrential rain yesterday that fell in just a few hours on Montsià and Baix Ebre, with floods in Alcanar, Ulldecona, Mas de Barberans, Santa Bárbara and L'Ametlla de Mar.
The best thing is that even though more than 100 l/m2 fell in Alcanar in just three hours (60 liters in half an hour and 220 at night and in the morning), no personal damage should be regretted, even though some neighbors had to evacuate. Civil Protection ordered the preventive confinement of the 9,600 residents of Alcanar early in the morning until after noon, with a mass sending of mobile alerts. About 1,600 houses were left without electricity. The worst thing is that the catastrophic floods of 2018 and 2021 have not helped to solve an endemic problem in the tourist and agricultural municipality. The damage has been less, pending the official balance sheet.
"The situation in our municipality is different from that of other towns, it is an anomaly, with ravines that pass through the municipality. Urgent action is required. Urban planning was understood decades ago in a different way, but the reality has changed, with torrential rains in September becoming more and more frequent. We need the help of the Generalitat and other administrations, Alcanar is flooded again. We can't do it alone", lamented Joan Roig (ERC), mayor of Alcanar, yesterday.
Alcanar has part of the urban center by the sea, in the Houses of Alcanar and in Alcanar Platja, with buildings erected decades ago in areas systematically flooded by the water that descends and overflows through the ravines, especially Sant Jaume. Every time there are episodes of torrential water, the ravines collect the rain that has fallen on the mountain, in the Serra del Montsià, they end up flowing like a violent flood into the sea and flood low-lying plants, estates, houses and businesses, such as the El Racó restaurant of the Port. The last flood was closed for six months to be able to rebuild. This time, fortunately, the damage was less severe. "It is necessary to act preventively, not only after the floods to alleviate some damage that will be reproduced again", insisted Mayor Roig. The aid promised by other administrations such as the Generalitat for the floods of 2021 has not yet arrived, said the mayor.
