The mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León, has signed this morning the decree for the activation of the PEMU, Municipal Emergency Plan, given the pre-alert declarations activated by the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Emergencies, where probable storms are declared, with moments of torrential rains, in Lanzarote and La Graciosa, among other islands of the Canary Archipelago.
The decision of the Gobierno de Canarias has been taken taking into account the information provided by the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología and other available sources, and in application of the Specific Emergency Plan of the Canary Islands for Risks of Adverse Meteorological Phenomena (PEFMA), where storms are forecast in the vicinity of the easternmost islands of the Canary Islands, in addition to winds, rains, and coastal phenomena.
Given this situation, and as a precaution, the City Council decreed the PEMU in pre-alert form, which allows to have a standby team available to assist the population if possible. This standby team, according to what is established in the municipal protocol for the activation of the PEMU, is formed by members of the Local Police, Civil Protection, and personnel from the areas of Public Works, Mobility and Transport, among others.
From the Department of Security and Emergencies, directed by councilor Kevin Cortés, the Civil Protection personnel are already preventively in place assigned to cover the sensitive areas of the city prone to floods due to rains.
As Arrecife is located at the natural mouth, the waters that may be dragged from the ravines bordering Montaña Mina, Zonzamas and Maneje can lead to floods in the city center when the waters from those intense rains are dragged seeking their natural mouth towards the sea. As is known, Arrecife was founded as a port and city next to the tide, at the same sea level.
From the Department of Public Works, under the direct direction of the mayor, Yonathan de León, several personnel have been deployed to install protective fences in the area of the storm drains, whose manholes are lifted to facilitate greater drainage, in those sensitive areas of the city, whose roads are usually at the same level as sea level. Some preventive measures that have been implemented in this mandate and that have contributed to minimizing the effects of intense rains in previous alert episodes.
Avoid parking vehicles in areas sensitive to floods
From the Local Police of Arrecife, different streets prone to flooding have already been cordoned off, during this midday. Likewise, the Department of Mobility and Transport, led by councilor Mario González Altube, has placed fences to redirect traffic in those streets sensitive to episodes of flooding due to rain- specified in the content of the Arrecife Emergency Plan- such as Portugal, Doctor Fleming streets (both in the La Verga neighborhood, or El Antonio street, in the Titerroy neighborhood, in the vicinity of the Insular School of Languages, a street adjacent to one of the sides of the Ciudad Deportiva Lanzarote.
Mayor Yonathan de León reminds residents that, in emergency situations, one must call 112 and from this emergency center, if necessary in this city, the personnel of Civil Protection, Local Police, and personnel from the Public Works Department of the City Council will be activated.
