‘Hard and hostile’ storm lashes Spain, leaving at least 2 dead

At least two people have died in central Spain after Storm Dana lashed the country with torrential rain.

One man, in his 20s, died in the small town of Casarrubios del Monte due to the devastating consequences of Storm Dana, police spokesperson Ramon Cuevas said.

Another man was found dead in the town of Bargas, Cuevas added.

The president of the Castilla La-Mancha region, which has been most heavily hit by the storm, described its impact on Sunday as “very hard and hostile.”

Images showed overturned cars and damaged property in central Spain on Monday.

Garcia-Page explained that during Sunday’s events, emergency services couldn’t remove the water on numerous occasions because they had prioritized rescuing trapped people, which “shows the amount of water that fell and how quickly that did it.”

Emiliano García-Page said the La Mancha government will analyze the impacted areas. He praised the emergency services for their “tremendous” work, reminding listeners that despite the death in Casarrubios del Monte, we should “also count dozens of people who were saved.”

Spanish authorities also said at least a 55-year-old woman was reported missing in the municipality of Valmojado, while two others were missing in the Madrid region.

Dry weather is expected to return for much of the country on Tuesday.

Residents in Madrid had been instructed by city authorities to stay indoors on Sunday, when Storm Dana was set to hit.

The state meteorological agency, AEMET, issued a warning for Madrid, Toledo and Cadiz, initially predicting that up to 120 liters per square meter of rain could fall over Madrid in 12 hours.

Valencia, on the Mediterrenean coast, had earlier seen intense rainfall already, AEMAT said.