storm therese isolates 200 gran canaria flooding

Storm Therese Isolates 200 in Gran Canaria as River Bursts Banks

Storm Therese causes major disruption with hundreds isolated

The high-impact storm Therese continues to wreak havoc across the Canary Islands. In the last few hours, more than 200 people have been cut off in Gran Canaria after the mouth of the Arguineguín ravine in the south of the island overflowed “suddenly”, according to reports from RTVC.

Dramatic river rescue as woman clings to tree

The day’s major scare came when firefighters rescued a woman who was caught out by the rapidly rising water in the ravine. She called for help while clinging to a tree to avoid being dragged away by the current. The woman was evacuated showing signs of hypothermia.

At a press conference called by the Canary Islands Government’s General Directorate of Emergencies on Saturday at 12:00, the head of Civil Protection, Montserrat Román, explained that the person was in difficulty near the football pitch in the Arguineguín ravine. “It was today’s scare, caused by the increase in water flow that left a person unable to get out,” she detailed. Members of the Fire Consortium went to the scene and it was not necessary to mobilise aerial means, although it was considered.

Warnings in place and emergency measures activated

Gran Canaria is under an orange warning from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) for rain and wind, and a yellow warning for coastal phenomena. The island’s council activated the Insular Emergency Plan on Wednesday, and on Friday, in-person classes were suspended at all public centres across the islands.

The council and the San Bartolomé de Tirajana town hall have ordered preventive evacuations in scattered settlements close to the ravine.

Hundreds of incidents reported across the archipelago

The emergency services number 1-1-2 managed nearly 400 incidents in the Canaries on Friday related to Storm Therese, according to Román’s statement. Around 200 were registered in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the rest in the province of Las Palmas.

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