The lower part of Arrecife is the one that has suffered the most from the onslaught of the storm in the early hours of this Wednesday. This has been explained to La Voz from the Security and Emergency Consortium, pointing out that Portugal, Argentina and Gómez Ulla streets have been flooded again. The section that goes from the old bingo hall to Portugal street has even remained closed for two hours so that the firefighters could pump out the water. For the same purpose, the exits from Arrecife to San Bartolomé and Tinajo and Playa Honda had to be closed for 4 hours. Regarding the incidents due to flooding, the Consortium indicates that none has been "at risk".
Regarding the two roads that had to be closed, the Consortium has indicated that they reopened at 6 in the morning, after "working all night". In the case of the exit towards San Bartolomé, the road was filled with "water and mud" near the hospital, they point out. Thus, the firefighters joined the road workers and, while some cleared the road with a mechanical shovel, the Consortium personnel were in charge of cleaning it with the pressure hose to be able to open it. The exit to Playa Honda and the airport, on the other hand, had been flooded by water and it was necessary to pump it out.
On the other hand, the firefighters also had to cut off the section that goes from the old bingo hall to Portugal Street. The area, they point out, was "totally flooded" and had to be completely closed until the morning. That water, however, "stayed on the street and on the sidewalks", said the manager of the Consortium, Enrique Espinosa, who stressed that they have not had to intervene in "major floods" in houses as has happened on other occasions.
"The bags of sand that we have been giving for a couple of years, people are asking for them more and more and putting them in the places where the water enters. The truth is that with this our actions have decreased a lot, it is working throughout the island. In Arrecife it is given twice or three times as much as in the whole island, because it is where there is the most risk and where there is the most population as well", he explained. Thus, the actions of the firefighters due to flooding in homes have been small "pump outs", he explained.
On the other hand, in the Argana neighborhood, where the firefighters also had to carry out several interventions in places such as Tenderete street, the pond has been filled "completely". Thus, the Consortium plans to empty it as soon as the rains stop, so that it is "prepared for future rainfall".
The manager has also highlighted that the time at which the rains were recorded has positively influenced the response capacity. "The interventions were very fast because there were no cars on the road, early morning is the best time. In the morning the risk is multiplied by five".
In total, the Consortium has carried out about thirty interventions throughout the island. Due to flooding, they have also gone to Avenida de las Playas and Pedro el Barba street in Puerto del Carmen and also to several homes in San Bartolomé and Costa Teguise, although none of them were serious. Finally, they had to intervene in the Malpaso curves, in Haría, due to the landslides of stones that were falling on the road.
