Spain and Portugal on Saturday braced for another storm moving towards the Iberian Peninsula, just days after flooding caused by Storm Leonardo killed at least one person in each country.
The latest weather system, named Storm Marta, has prompted the deployment of more than 26,500 emergency responders in Portugal. Severe conditions have already forced three municipalities to postpone Sunday’s presidential vote until next week.
Both countries have issued fresh flood warnings after recent inundations blocked hundreds of roads, disrupted rail services and forced thousands of residents to flee rising waters.
Mario Silvestre, commander of Portugal’s civil protection agency, warned that the forecast was “extremely worrying”, according to the Lusa news agency.
Authorities fear wind gusts of up to 110 kilometres (68 miles) per hour as Storm Marta reaches the Portuguese coast, along with landslides and flash flooding.
“All the furniture is completely destroyed. The water smashed the window, forced the doors open and then burst through from the other side,” Francisco Marques, a municipal worker in the central village of Constância, told AFP.
After flying over flood-hit areas near Cádiz in southern Spain on Friday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned that “difficult days” lay ahead due to what he described as a “very dangerous” weather forecast.
The Socialist leader is due to visit rescue teams in Madrid later on Saturday.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who toured affected regions on Friday, said preliminary estimates put the damage at more than four billion euros ($4.7 billion).
Portugal was already struggling with the aftermath of Storm Kristin—which killed five people, injured hundreds and left tens of thousands without power—when Storm Leonardo struck earlier this week.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the duration, intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, including the floods and heatwaves that have hit both countries in recent years.
