In an hour and a half, up to 100 liters fell in some parts of the city
Municipal services and concessionaires finalize the repair of the damage caused by the strong storm of Sunday morning
The municipal services of the City Council and the concession companies are finalizing the repair of the damage caused by the heavy rainstorm that occurred early Sunday morning and reached 100 litres per square meter in just an hour and a half in some parts of the city. The mayor, Toni Pérez, has pointed out that "despite the intensity of the rainfall, with an unusual episode in recent years, the city has responded well and the damage has been only material and punctual, and fortunately most of it promptly. resolution".
The mayor has reported that "the most striking damage has occurred on the Levante beach, mainly in the Rincón de Loix, where the sand drags exposed the channels and structures of the footbaths, also affecting some sections of the walkway" . Some damage that "we hope will be resolved tomorrow, Tuesday, and that has practically not affected the activity of the beach, which both yesterday and today has not stopped receiving users."
With regard to the other two urban beaches, in Poniente there has only been “slight damage at the exits of the ravines”; while in Mal Pas "no significant damage has been recorded."
As detailed by the mayor, "already from early Sunday morning the areas of the beaches that presented damage were sealed and at 6:00 p.m. that same day the replacement and filling of sand began, which continues today and that They will last until this Tuesday.
At this point, he recalled that "the City Council has been warning for some time of the need to act on Ametlla del Mar avenue and at the exit of several Levante and Poniente ravines precisely to avoid situations like the ones that have occurred now". In the first case, “we are subject to the Wastewater Sanitation Entity, dependent on the Generalitat, carrying out a work within its competence to be able to act later from the City Council; while the works of the ravines are still waiting to be authorized by the competent body”.
The mayor explained that "throughout the early hours of Sunday, the Local Police worked in coordination with different municipal concessionaires, acting at the points that required the most urgent action, and proceeding to cut traffic punctually at the points of the greatest accumulation of water, such as Toledo street, Alcalde José Such street or the confluence of Comunidad Valenciana and Alfonso Puchades avenues”. In these last two points, "the problem was caused by an electrical failure that left the rainwater pumps inoperative."
This lack of supply also affected the pumping of Valencia, Philippines and Castellón streets.
In the incidents section, "the highlight was the fall of five walls of private properties and several landslides on the Paseo de Colón and in the Tossal de La Cala".
Specifically, in Paris and Almirall Bernat de Sarrià streets, two walls fell onto the public thoroughfare, with the City Council taking charge of removing the rubble; while in the Imalsa building the fall of the wall affected six owners' vehicles. The wall of the dissuasive car park on Lérida street also collapsed, the repair of which will be assumed by the City Council as this land is temporarily ceded to the Consistory. Finally, the fall of a wall of Velázquez building on Armada Española street was also recorded. Regarding the latter, the mayor has reported that "the City Council issued at the time an execution order for the property to act on the slope", and has advanced that "in view of what happened, it has been decided to act in a subsidiary manner and subsequently pass on the costs to the property.
With regard to the Tossal area, "the large rock that fell on the road next to the viewpoint of the Virgen del Mar hermitage has already been removed." On the other hand, the municipal services are drafting the project to consolidate the walls next to Paseo de Colón.
Likewise, the rains caused a hole in the road at the junction of Cuenca and Ibiza streets, which forced the closure of a traffic lane yesterday. This lane is expected to be operational again this afternoon.
Finally, in various parts of the city, the force of the storm “provoked the dragging of containers and furniture, which began to be returned to their original location from early yesterday morning; as well as the presence and accumulation of mud, mainly on walks and which was also resolved on Sunday morning”.
Toni Pérez thanked “the tireless work on the ground carried out by the Local Police, the municipal technical services, the technicians from the Architecture and Engineering departments, and the staff of Hidraqua, Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, Actúa and RA Benidorm concessionaires. ; a job that has made it possible to solve all the incidents and damages in practically record time”.
Toni Pérez explained that "nothing could have predicted such an intense rainy season". In fact, and according to the report of the Citizen Security technician, "the weather bulletins and warnings sent since last Friday and throughout the weekend by the Security and Emergency Agency of the Generalitat Valenciana set the yellow level for rains and storms, the equivalent of low risk according to the standard colour coding and in which the pre-emergency is not activated”.
Condolences to the relatives of the agent who died in Calpe
After taking stock of the rainy episode, on behalf of the city of Benidorm, the mayor has sent his condolences to the family and friends of the Calpe Local Police officer who died early Sunday morning in an act of duty.
