Emergency services rescued 13 people after a torrential downpour dumped 50 litres of rain per square metre in under an hour across the south of Vega Baja late on Monday, flooding the tunnels of the Alicante-Cartagena motorway as it passes through Pilar de la Horadada.
The floodwaters rendered all four lanes impassable, prompting Local Police and Guardia Civil officers to work tirelessly to free drivers and passengers trapped in their vehicles within the tunnels. An ambulance carrying municipal medical personnel was also dispatched to the scene. All those rescued were found in good condition and were expected to spend the night at a municipal shelter opened and set up by Pilar de la Horadada Town Hall.
The road remained closed into the early morning of Tueday 20th October, with traffic redirected to the parallel N-332 highway as an alternative route, according to the Directorate General of Traffic. Located halfway between the town of Pilar de la Horadada and its coastal area of Torre de la Horadada, the tunnels feature a trench-like gradient that causes runoff from the town and surrounding farmland to accumulate rapidly when the local dry riverbed cannot drain it all. The Ministry of Transport completed a project less than a year ago to improve safety along this section of the toll-free motorway. The tunnel is expected to reopen today, Wednesday 21st October, but only in the Alicante direction.
Pilar de la Horadada has proven to be the municipality in the Vega Baja region most severely affected by torrential rainfall from Storm Adam. Over the weekend, the coastline of Torre de la Horadada recorded accumulations exceeding 80 litres per square metre over a 24-hour period, causing no major incidents beyond filling the urban dry riverbed that has protected the area from larger floods for over four decades. However, Monday night’s downpour easily overwhelmed the tunnel drainage system after dumping more than 50 litres per square metre in less than 45 minutes, exceeding the orange alert forecast of 40 litres per square metre issued at 9 p.m.
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