Rains cause the overflow of one of the largest rivers in Spain

This Monday the authorities of Spain reported that the rising of the Ebro river, one of the largest in the Iberian Peninsula, flooded areas of the northeast of the country after days of heavy rains due to a storm.

After the waters flooded the Navarra region (north) over the weekend, causing two deaths, the river continues its course towards the Mediterranean and is overflowing today on the bank that passes through the Aragon region, with a higher level to the flood of 2015.

The first municipality on the banks of the Aragonese Ebro, Novillas, breathes a sigh of relief after passing this morning the tip of the extraordinary flood of the river without causing personal damage, although it flooded two-thirds of the municipal term.

The mayor of this town, Abel Vera, told Efe that, for the moment, the dam that protects the urban area is holding, although they are pending possible leaks.

Since yesterday, members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), and the Civil Guard, are reinforcing dams and ponds to prevent the waters from invading the towns, although the riverside fields are totally flooded.

The peak of the flood is now heading towards Zaragoza, the capital of the region, and although it has not yet arrived, it already has a flow of 1,709.83 cubic meters per second and a height of 4.71 meters.

For this reason, the Zaragoza City Council raised the Civil Protection Plan to an emergency phase last night and residents of the lowest areas, susceptible to being flooded, have been evacuated.

Likewise, the entry of water is progressively being detected in the Aragonese capital at regular points near the river.

In addition to the UME, for its part, the Civil Guard has mobilized about 100 troops from different specialties to participate every day in the device launched by this flood of the Ebro.

The river has reached more than six meters in height in Navarra and the same is expected today in Aragon, causing the flooding of thousands of hectares of agricultural and livestock areas.

Both Navarra and Aragon announced that they will ask the Spanish Government to declare a catastrophic zone for the damage to this extraordinary avenue of the Ebro.

This river crosses seven Spanish regions from its source in Cantabria (north) to its mouth in Catalonia (northeast), and is one of the most important that flows into the Mediterranean, only surpassed in length by the Nile. (I)