The mayors of El Vendrell and Roda de Berà call for “structural” measures to prevent floods

Aftermath of the unprecedented torrential rains on Saturday morning in the Costa Daurada, which caused 11 injuries, nine of whom remain hospitalized, the most serious being a minor on whom a wall fell in the port of Roda de Berà. In the area, while those affected by rains that surprised everyone by their intensity and duration (with 276 liters per square meter recorded on the coast of Roda de Berà by a veteran unofficial observer) assess the damage and insurance companies inspect damage to cars; the mayors of the aforementioned town and El Vendrell have demanded this Sunday “structural” measures so that the train track does not block the water when it rains intensely. The two councilors also agree not to question why the Government did not send an EsAlert to warn the population and understand that it was very difficult to foresee the rainfall of the episode.

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The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has reported that he is “very attentive to the consequences of the intense rains” this weekend, that he is in contact with the mayors of the affected towns and has asked for “maximum prudence” in view of the rain alerts for the coming hours in Terres de l’Ebre and on Monday in the west and north of Catalonia.

The mayor of El Vendrell, Kenneth Martínez, advocates taking “brave decisions” in the face of problems he sees as “structural” and notes that the train track along the coast and the N-340 (which was closed for hours during the storm) act as a barrier. Martínez calls for addressing the problem as “a national issue” and suggests studying more passages under the walls and new reservoirs or channels.

His counterpart in Roda, Pere Virgili, demands that Adif act “forcefully” and spend “whatever is necessary” to make the railway line more permeable, whose wall in the town “acts as a dam” preventing water evacuation, he recalled on Saturday. Virgili highlights that in episodes like this weekend’s in the maritime neighborhoods, water flowing down from the torrents converges with water precipitating directly on the coast, adding two contributions: “The one that falls and the one that cannot be evacuated.” In the case of the Arc de Berà campsite, exactly this happened, with the added complication that a container and several cars blocked an evacuation tunnel under the tracks, and the collapse of part of a retaining wall of the facilities.

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The two town councils are also evaluating the condition of the affected streets, counting cars that won’t start (some have been sealed) and also how the beaches have been left, visibly battered. In Roda, the water even carried away part of the Camino de Ronda, and forced the closure of a section of the promenade. In the case of the most affected campsite, whose owners decline to speak to assess their situation, the mayor admits that it will be necessary to study whether actions need to be proposed. In the municipality, he recalls, actions have already been agreed with the Catalan Water Agency to reduce the impact of water during heavy rains. In El Vendrell, Martínez also points to improving the management protocols for the streams and torrents that cross the towns.

Late on Saturday, firefighters decided to confine guests at the Maramar hotel in Coma-ruga (on the coast of El Vendrell) after realizing that there were chlorine tablets in the flooded underground car park. This Sunday morning, guests had already been deconfinated, a receptionist explained.

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