Floods in Spain: extreme but part of a new normal, IHE Delft experts say
News media report more than 90 deaths and severe infrastructure damage following flash floods caused by extreme rain in eastern and southern Spain. IHE Delft experts Shreedhar Maskey, Associate Professor of Hydrology & Water Resources, and Fredrik Huthoff, Associated Professor of Hydraulic Engineering, reflect on what contributed to the sudden disaster.
Extreme rainfall drenched a large barren, rocky and hilly terrain that does not absorb water well, leading to overland flows that rapidly concentrated large amounts of rainwater in small land areas. This led to water rising suddenly, with depths of several meters reached within a matter of hours – with catastrophic effects.
Adding to the challenge of absorbing masses of water from extreme rainfalls is urbanization: buildings and infrastructure such as roads and paved areas block some of the natural drainage routes. Few places around the world would be able to handle the extreme amounts of rain that have fallen in Spain.
A series of extreme rainfalls
The deluge in Spain is one of several extreme rainfall events that have occurred in recent years in Europe, parts of Asia and parts of the United States, for example in Germany, France and Nepal. We have to plan our land and infrastructure so that water can be stored and drained as safely as possible. We are facing a new normal in which extreme weather events are increasingly common – an effect of climate change – and countries and local authorities must prepare for and adapt to such events.
We have to plan our land and infrastructure so that water can be stored and drained as safely as possible.
Occurring less than two weeks before COP29, when world leaders will gather in Azerbaijan to talk about how to curb global warming, the disaster is a clear signal that action is needed now – waiting is not an option.
Shreedhar Maskey
Associate Professor of Hydrology & Water Resources
Fredrik Huthoff
Associate Professor of Hydraulic Engineering
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