Houses evacuated
The storm continues to wreak havoc even during a month of the year where the province usually feels closer to spring than winter. The precipitation, which was not strong but still persistant over the weekend, combined with the shortage vegetation and already saturated ground has caused devastation to the countryside in areas such as Manilva, Torremolinos and Casarabonela, leaving houses damaged or completely demolished in the wake of landslides. In addition to this, various roads in the Guadalhorce Valley have been blocked, as has the railwayline between Bobadilla and Granada. The Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia (State Meteorology Agency) forecasts that over the course of this week temperatures will drop, with more rain likely until Friday. The operation to clean up the beaches, which have been covered in reeds and waste, is pending until after the meeting due to take place on Tuesday between the Junta and the central government in order to coordinate the necessary actions to fix the damages caused by the storm.
Estepona and Manilva
Cracks, crumbled walls, houses on the brink of collapse and people unable to leave their homes due to blocked country roads – the rain has dealt a series of harsh blows to the western part of the province. In total, some 30 families have been evacuated in Manilva and Estepona and many more cut off. In Manilva 23 families from the Monte Viñas and Las Higueras estates have been forced out of their homes due to landslides.
“Ceilings have fallen in, four houses are seriously affected, and five have minor cracks,” said planning councillor Salvador Zotono in relation to the houses in Las Higueras. The buildings in Monte Viñas are at risk of collapse as an 800 metre strip of land has begun to slide downwards at a speed of three centimetres per hour. This could cause buildings to collapse if the precipitous weather continues. “What we want is to fix the problem,” the mayor of Manilva, Antonia Muñoz, said on Monday. Residents whose homes were affected have been relocated in apartments belonging to the council.
In Estepona on Sunday the local police evacuated eight families from the Forest Hills estate after the collapse of several roads and the threat that houses would suffer damage. Those affected have been taken in by relatives. Agricultural councilor Carmen Ocaña has announced that since Monday the area has been under surveillance to prevent thefts from the vacated buildings.
These residents cannot return to their houses; whilst some 30 families of the municipality cannot leave theirs. Those affected – residents of La Madroña and La Cala Alta – remain cut off due to traffic blocks on country roads, which are still unusable. Late on Sunday afternoon only the Nicio road was blocked, but by the early hours of Monday morning 17 roads were affected.
In the face of such chaos, local administrations are making the first calculations of the losses caused by the rainfall. Manilva’s assessment estimates almost five million euros. In Estepona they value the damage caused to country roads at some 800,000 euros. The Malaga delegate of the Andalusian government, María Gámez, visited both municipalities on Monday in order to view the damage.
Casarabonela
In Casarabonela, fear was also running high when a mountain of rocks partially buried three houses right in the middle of a built up area. “More or less half of the castle mound fell down”, a resident said on Monday. The landslide of an entire slope in the highest part of the town, where the ruins of the old arab fortress are located, affected three houses causing substantial material damage in two of them especially, although fortunately nobody was injured. This was sheer luck, because these buildings were inhabited, the town council recognised on Monday. The event required the intervention of the Consorcio Provincial de Bomberos (Provincial Consortium of Fire Brigades) who, in collaboration with the Guardia Civil and emergency services, inspected the houses and cordoned off the area before any more collapses could take place. Especially spectacular was the scene after two huge boulders fell onto houses. Casarabonela is one of the worst hit villages with regards to blocked roads during the the storm. On Monday the A-354 between the village and Zalea remained closed, after a large hole appeared over the weekend in the middle of this principal route from the village that links it directly to the Guadalhorce dual carriageway (A-357). The representative of public construction in Malaga, Dolores Fernández, explained that they are working to solve the problems as quickly as possible, although they cannot specify a date for the reparation of the road, whose remodelling works were only completed three years ago.
In spite of everything, on Monday the MA-5403 between Ardales and El Chorro was opened to traffic, althought the A-7075 in Almogía and the aforementioned A-354 remained closed. “We are working with two priorities: that no community is left isolated and to ensure the guaranteed safety of the vehicles and operators who are carrying out the necessary repairs,” Fernández declared. The closure of roads in Casarabonela has also negatively affected residents of neighbouring Alozaina and Yunquera, who usually use this route to get to Malaga. The alternative is the A-366 between Alozaina and Coín, where substantial holes have also appeared, but which remains open for the time being.
Bajondillo
The rain has likewise caused trouble in the Cueva de Bajondillo, in Torremolinos, causing continuous landslides of rocks of up to one metre in diametre that have fallen onto the balconies of several houses in the Tajillo square which lead it to be sealed off as a preventative measure. Only material, not personal, damages were recorded.
One of the worst hit houses is that of Micaela Fernández. Her patio has been turned into a jumble of rubble and rocks to the point that access to her front door has even been blocked. “Firemen came to move the rocks and trees that had piled up, but as of yet nobody from the council has come to take away the debris that fell on our houses”, she complained.
ADIF (the Administrator for Railway Infrastructure) was working on Monday to reestablish the line between Bobadilla and Granada after its closure between the stations of Antequera and Archidona.
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