Last Friday's rain

Several parts of Pilar de la Horadada were cut off and flooded following the heavy rain last Friday. The Rambla that divides the town centre became a torrential river on a scale not seen since the rains of 1987.

The overnight rain waterlogged fields and barrancos, but it was the sudden fall of between 90-100 litres of water per square metre at 9.30am that trapped cars, turned streets into rivers and overflowed drains.

Many roads had to be closed making the town almost inaccessible until 2pm, including the road to Pinar de Campoverde and around the rambla, which coped well in its first serious test dealing with such a flood according to the Policía Local.

The problems stretched up the coast to San Javier where exits from the AP-7 motorway had to be closed to Dos Mares commercial centre and Los Alcázares. Orihuela Costa urbanisations were also thrown into chaos with roads closed and the problematic N-332 underpass by the town hall at Playa Flamenca being completely flooded and blocked off.

In Torrevieja, the strong winds that accompanied the extreme weather left the fishing fleet stranded in the port and paralysed the salt production works.

So in comparison we got off lightly!