By nine o’clock last night, the Emergency Coordination Centre had received a total of 233 calls alerting of nearly two hundred issues (181) related to the strong wind and coastal phenomena throughout the Region. A large number of these emergencies occurred between two and three o’clock in the afternoon, when the peak of alert calls occurred. The issues were related to obstacles on the road (83) and landslides (60), and Murcia was the most affected municipality, with a total of 50 incidents, followed by Lorca (25) and Cehegín (14).
The storm was also particularly noticeable in Cartagena, with 14 emergencies, where strong south-westerly winds mainly affected maritime activity. Two cruise ships that were scheduled to call at the Juan Sebastián Elcano dock early in the morning, with 2,700 passengers, suspended their visits due to the weather warnings. At midday, the pilotage service was interrupted in the two docks, where some twenty large merchant ships, some of them transporting dangerous goods, were sheltered from the gale. Another ten remained in the anchorages in front of the city, sheltered by Cape Tiñoso. Wind gusts of more than 70 kilometres per hour caused waves of four metres in the vicinity of the port of Cartagena, where the fishing fleet did not go out to fish either as a result of the bad sea conditions.
As for the incidents in the rest of the port city, the City Council cordoned off wooded areas and closed accesses to some park areas in anticipation of large branches falling onto the public highway. The strong gusts of wind knocked down poles and road signs, as well as billboards in several parts of the municipality. The Cartagena City Council asked citizens to stay away from jetties and piers. Also, not to leave their vehicles next to walls or under large trees.
On the other hand, shortly before one o’clock in the afternoon, an accident occurred on the road between Yecla and Pinoso, involving two cars. In the accident, apparently caused by poor visibility due to the large amount of earth and dust raised by the strong wind, four people were injured. One of them, a 23-year-old woman, was trapped inside one of the vehicles and had to be freed by the fire brigade. All the injured were taken to the Virgen del Castillo Hospital in Yecla.
In addition, the wind caused numerous incidents in Cieza, where the strong gusts caused the fall of large tree branches in Avenida de La Estación, Juan XXIII, Calle Santiago and carretera de Abarán, among other areas. A large pine tree also fell in the Tennis Club and another large branch fell in the Plaza de España, but did not cause any personal injury.
The weather vane did not hold
Incidents were also reported in Caravaca de la Cruz, where the wind blew off the weather vane of the Torre de los Pastores, in the church of La Concepción. The weather vane was in a poor state of repair, which meant that the shaft broke and fell in the middle of Corredera street. There were no injuries, but it was a good scare.
The northwest and the Altiplano remain on yellow alert today
The squall ‘Ciarán’ remains on yellow alert this Friday, the regions of the Altiplano and the Northwest (until 14.00 hours), as the Aemet forecasts «very strong gusts of wind towards the end of the day» in these and other areas of the region. In addition, the strong gusts of wind have meant that different areas of the region remain at very high or extreme risk of forest fires this Friday, according to the Aemet forecast.
