Ronda evacuates several rural areas due to flood risk amid Wednesday's red alert

The Serranía de Ronda is already preparing for the red alert this Wednesday due to heavy rainfall of up to 200 liters per square meter, with preventive evacuations of all residents living in rural areas whose homes are at special risk of flooding. According to the Ronda City Council on social media, these areas include Navares and Tejares, La Indiana, and Llano de la Cruz.

All these are flood-prone areas near riverbanks, where, it should be noted, floods occurred last week due to the overflow of the Guadiaro, among others. The City Council indicates that accommodation will be offered to all affected individuals who need it.

The Ronda City Council had also announced that due to the adverse weather conditions this Wednesday, municipal activities will be suspended, and parks, gardens, and monuments will be closed, as well as the cemetery, library, sports facilities, socio-cultural workshops, municipal civic centers, and the senior citizens' municipal center.

The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has issued a red alert for "extraordinary danger" due to rainfall in this region, expecting cumulative precipitation of 150 liters in 12 hours, which could exceed 200 liters in 24 hours. Specifically, it is set from midnight this Tuesday to Wednesday, until 00:00 hours the following day. The same level of alert has been decreed in Grazalema, so the areas near the border with the province of Cádiz are those that could register the highest precipitation accumulations.

In the regions of Axarquía, Costa del Sol, and Guadalhorce, the warning is at orange level. In these areas, 100 liters per square meter are expected in 12 hours, and more than 150 in 24 hours. However, the storm Leonardo will not affect all the towns on the Costa del Sol equally. Aemet points out that these accumulations will occur in the western half of the Costa del Sol, while in the rest of the region the accumulations will be 40 mm in 12 hours.

Level 2 of the Emergency Plan of the Junta

Given the "extraordinary" meteorological and hydrological situation expected in the coming days, the Junta de Andalucía has raised the operational situation of the Emergency Plan for Flood Risk in Andalusia from level 1 to 2. This was reported by the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, after the advisory committee meeting of the Emergency Plan.

This means, he added, "incorporating extraordinary resources from other administrations, whether local, provincial, or national, into the Junta de Andalucía's already deployed device," such as prepositioning and preparing the UME to act.