MIAMI, United States. – A series of catastrophic floods in Spain has caused the death of at least 62 people, according to official sources from the rescue teams cited by The Country and other means. The disaster has been caused by an Isolated High Level Depression (DANA), an atmospheric phenomenon popularly known as “cold drop”, especially in the Mediterranean region.
The current episode of “cold drop” has been considered the worst of the 21st century in Spaincomparable to the “Pantanada de Tous” disaster in 1982 and the great Valencia flood of 1957.
What is a DANA and how is it formed?
The DANA is an isolated depression high in the atmosphere, a low pressure system that has separated from the zonal flow. In the northern hemisphere, these depressions are located south of the established flow aloft. They originate from the polar jet, a current of intense winds of between 150 and 300 km/h that circulates at about 9,000 meters above sea level around the North Pole.
This polar jet produces waves known as meanders every seven to ten days, which can give rise to storms, anticyclones and DANA. Unlike a typical eastward-moving storm, a DANA can remain stationary for several days, increasing the potential for prolonged, intense precipitation.
The meteorologist of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), Delia Gutiérrez, explains that “not always when there is a DANA in the upper layers of the atmosphere, the consequences are abundant rainfall, with floods and floods.” He adds that “DANAs are a relatively common structure in our latitudes and, luckily, most of them do not become so newsworthy.”
Valencia, the epicenter of the disaster
This Wednesday, images of the devastation in Valencia have gone around the world. The intense rains have left historical records of up to 500 liters per square meter, one of the highest values in two decades.
Pilar Bernabé, Government delegate in Valencia, reported about the magnitude of the situation: “All main and secondary roads are closed.” For their part, emergency services rescued about 200 people during the night of Tuesday, but there are still “several hundred trapped,” according to the Valencia Provincial Firefighters Consortium. “We have not yet been able to access all the points where people need to be rescued,” the authorities said.
Entire neighborhoods of Valencia, such as La Torre, have suffered significant flooding, and the district of Pinedo, with about 2,000 inhabitants, has been evacuated.
