Heavy rains and strong winds have continued to hit parts of Spain and Portugal, causing at least two deaths, forcing the evacuation of over 7,000 people, and prompting calls to postpone the second round of Portugal’s presidential elections.
Storm Leonardo, which struck the Iberian Peninsula this week, led the Portuguese government to extend the current state of disaster in 69 municipalities until mid-February, reports The Guardian, via Rks News.
The storm killed a man in Portugal, while the body of a woman swept away by a river in southern Spain’s Andalusia region was found on Friday. This is the latest in a series of deadly storms that have hit Portugal and Spain in recent weeks, leaving multiple casualties.
Authorities in Andalusia, where over 7,000 people were forced to evacuate, evacuated inhabited areas near the Guadalquivir River in Córdoba overnight and prohibited pedestrian access to a bridge.
“We expect 30 mm [of rain],” said Andalusia’s regional president Juan Manuel Moreno on Friday.
“Normally this wouldn’t be much water, but now it is too much because the soil cannot absorb it and the rivers and reservoirs are full.”
About 1,500 residents were ordered to leave their homes in Grazalema, a mountainous village popular with climbers, as water penetrated house walls and flowed along the steep cobbled streets.
