The risk of flooding

Autumn is the season when we normally expect rain. A warm sea during June signals the possibility of a “gota fria” or cold drop which means torrential rain. The drainage system alongside the roads cannot cope with these deluges and so we have flooding.

I am told that there never used to be flooding in Bigastro until the by-pass was built. It was understood the road would prevent water from draining across to the huerta and so a water channel was built under it but that is not sufficient to take the full flow of a downpour. Similarly, the water channel that follows Calle LeVegan drains water from La Pedrera until it reaches the entrance to our estate where it then floods onto the road.

Apart from Bigastro, it seems that 160,000 people living in the Alicante province are at risk of suffering from flooding during torrential rain.

The Vega Baja, the final leg of the Vinalopó (Elche), the beach of San Juan in Alicante and the ravines that lead to El Campello, Orihuela coast, Denia, Calpe and Ondara are the most affected areas. In the Vega Baja this includes the towns of; Orihuela, Almoradí, Callosa de Segura, Catral, Dolores, Rafal, Benejúzar, Formentera del Segura, Daya Nueva and Daya Vieja.

Recommendations have been made to classify high risk areas as land that should not be developed, However, town hall planning has not helped the situation by allowing building to take place in these areas at risk.