Heavy rainfall hits south Spain, 5,000 to be evacuated

Civil authorities in the province of Malaga in south Spain on Friday decided to evacuate around 5,000 people as a result of the heavy rainfall in the region. The areas affected are the towns of Cartama, Alora, Sierra de Yeguas, Villanueva del Trabuco and Genalguacil. Emergency services have decided to activate their emergency plan in response to the rainfall which is forecast to continue all Friday and into the weekend. The Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has predicted storms with a possible rainfall of 120 liters per square meters over the coming 12 hours. Meanwhile, several towns are also suffering from power cuts and are without water due to the rain. The nearby provinces of Granada, Sevilla, Almeria and Cordoba have also been placed on orange alert over the extreme weather. The rain has finally put an end to one of the hottest and driest summers on record in Spain which saw average temperatures over 1.5 degrees centigrade higher than average. But rainfall is 37 percent lower than average over the last 12 months. That has created ideal conditions for the spread of wildfires. About 170,000 hectares of countryside have been destroyed by over 4,000 fires this summer.