Torrential rain brings Tarragona coastline to brink of collapse

Heavy rain, especially in eastern Catalunya, has virtually collapsed the Tarragona coastline again, with flooding bringing road and rail traffic to a standstill.  Firefighters in Catalunya had already received 142 emergency calls by 10am today, the majority of them from the provinces of Tarragona y Girona.

Just days after the area was ravaged by Monday's storm, when flooding caused 182,000 euros worth of damage to municipal property in the Salut district of Salou, the Barenys river burst its banks again today after getting blocked by a fallen tree trunk, and flooding again collapsed the surrounding area.

The problems began early in the afternoon, when the N-340 in Tarragona had to be closed due to flooding, and access roads down to the city's beaches were also cut off by the torrential rain. 

The inclement weather caused accidents on the C-63 in Brunyola (Girona) and on the TV-3223 in Pradell de la Teixeta (Tarragona), both of which had to be closed in both directions as a consequence.

The railways were equally badly affected, with trains on the R-2 and R-4 breaking down because of the heavy rain and getting stranded for over an hour at Cunit station in Tarragona and Sant Feliu de Llobregat station in Barcelona respectively.

As the afternoon wore on, the rain clouds moved northwards, affecting the Barcelona and Girona coastlines.

In the province of Barcelona a tree fell across the railway line in Castelldefels, breaking the overhead power lines and interrupting services on the R-2 line for over an hour.  A similar incident occurred on the R-3 line between Figaró and Sant Martí de Centelles stations, where services were interrupted for two and a half hours because of another fallen tree.
 
The A-2 has been closed completely in the Barcelona direction at Esparreguera, and one lane in the opposite direction has also been closed.

In Girona, the town council in Lloret de Mar has activated its emergency plan because of serious flooding, and more floods have been reported in Blanes in inland Girona.