Le Monde (subscription required for full access) reports, Spain’s transport ministry released EUR 24.8 million (USD 26.76 million) at the end of last week to cover initial emergency repairs of highway and rail infrastructure severely damaged by recent flash flooding in and around Valencia. “But this will just be the beginning. The priority is to rebuild the section of the A-7 freeway viaduct destroyed by the floods. The viaduct, which forms part of the [Valencia city] ring road, usually handles 78,000 vehicles a day. While waiting for it to reopen, a temporary three-lane detour will be set up.” The article also discusses the region’s extensive rail network damage.
“Global Construction Review” reports that “two carriageways of the Valencia metropolitan area bypass have been out of service. The section is used by around 77,600 vehicles a day and it can’t be diverted to the regional or local network because they are also seriously damaged, the [transport] ministry said.” The N-322 and the N-330 highways outside the metro area were also damaged by rivers swollen by a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours. “Experts have blamed global warming for [the] catastrophic flash floods in Spain. ‘We’re going to see more of these flash floods in the future,’ Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, told Reuters.”
Associated Press reports on the storms that caused the flooding, the consequent loss of life and damage to property, and current recovery measures.