Mallorca flood drill brings 170 rescuers to Canyamel

Mallorca stages a flood drill in Canyamel, in the municipality of Capdepera, on Thursday, 5 November: around 170 emergency workers respond to a flooded hotel basement and four missing mountain bikers. The flood and the missing people are part of the exercise, not a real emergency.

A hotel floods in the scenario

The drill starts with a red warning for heavy rain in eastern Mallorca from Spain’s State Meteorological Agency, Aemet. In the scenario, the Canyamel stream bursts its banks near its mouth, flooding nearby homes and a hotel.

The hotel has 180 guests, but crews do not know how many left on an early excursion. Its basement and those of nearby homes hold a metre of water. Teams also work at Canyamel’s sewage treatment plant to prevent a spill.

Rescue teams test their response

The weather emergency plan, Meteobal, is already in force when the simulated flooding prompts the activation of the flood plan, Inunbal. Those alert levels allow emergency chiefs to call in the Military Emergencies Unit. It brings more than 100 personnel, a helicopter, drones, search dogs and teams equipped to search underwater and remove water.

The Mallorca Fire Service brings another helicopter and crews from Artà and Manacor. Other teams practise rescues, including finding and recovering a person who has died in the scenario. The Balearic government says the drill met its goals. It is intended to test how the services work together during a major flood.

Topics: Missing & rescue · Capdepera · Artà · Manacor · Muro · Algaida · Santanyí

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com