MADRID, Feb 5 (Reuters) – A man died in Portugal when floodwaters engulfed his car and a girl was dragged away by a river in Spain after trying to rescue her dog as Storm Leonardo battered the Iberian Peninsula with heavy rain and strong winds on Thursday.
Leonardo is the latest of six winter storms to hit Portugal and Spain this year, killing people, ripping off roofs from homes and flooding towns.
A man aged about 70 was killed in Portugal’s southern Alentejo region on Wednesday after his car was swept away on a flooded road near a dam, authorities said.
A girl has gone missing after being dragged away by the Turvira River while trying to rescue her dog in the southern Spanish province of Málaga.
Malaga fire chief Manuel Marmolejo told Spanish television: “Yesterday we spent the entire afternoon and evening searching in the river, from where the girl fell into the water to the end of the river. We found the dog, but not her.”
Storm Marta, the next weather front in the so-called “train of storms,” ​​is expected to hit the region over the weekend, according to national weather agency Aemet.
Portugal’s Economy Minister Manuel Castro Almeida said Portugal’s reconstruction costs after last week’s Storm Christine alone could exceed 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion).
Continuous storms caused the Sado River to burst its banks, sending people wading through Salburg in southern Portugal. The restaurant terrace was completely flooded and sandbags were stacked in front to protect the house and shop.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s so surreal,” said resident Maria Cadacha. “There are a lot of people here, very good people, a lot of shopkeepers, and the houses have been damaged. I wouldn’t want to be in their situation.”
Andalusia’s emergency services said they had attended more than 1 million incidents as of midnight on Wednesday.
Antonio Sanz, the local government’s interior minister, said 14 rivers and 10 dams were at “extreme” risk of flooding.
Portugal’s National Civil Protection Agency said at least 70 incidents had been registered as of early Thursday.
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani; Editing by Charlie Devereux, Alexandra Hudson)
