MADRID: Schools in flood-hit towns in eastern Spain will be closed on Wednesday as the region braces for more torrential rains, officials said.
National weather office AEMET on Tuesday placed parts of Valencia as well as Catalonia in the northeast and Andalusia in the south and the Balearic Islands on orange alert -- the second highest level -- for strong or torrential rains until Thursday.
The alert comes two weeks after an exceptional Mediterranean storm caused Spain's deadliest floods in decades.
The October 29 storm killed 223 people, the bulk of them in the Valencia region, according to the latest official tally.
Dozens of town halls in Valencia, including Chiva, one of the worst-hit sites, suspended classes and closed public gyms because of the threats of more heavy rain.
“In response to the information provided by the emergency services, school and sports activities will be SUSPENDED from tomorrow until further notice,“ Chiva town hall wrote on X.
A military vehicle drove through towns in Valencia using a megaphone to warn of the expected storms and urge people not to make “unnecessary trips,“ images broadcast on Spanish public television TVE showed,
While the amount of rain that is forecast to fall in Valencia is less than what fell two weeks ago, local officials warned sewage systems are clogged with mud and could struggle to cope with significant precipitation making more flooding possible.
Outrage at the authorities for their perceived mismanagement before and after the floods triggered mass protests on Saturday, the largest in Valencia city which drew 130,000 people.
Classes were also suspended on Wednesday in parts of southern Catalonia as well as some towns and cities in Andalusia, inclusing Malaga.
