Malaga clean-up bill could hit €10m after province hit by more storms

MALAGA city endured the most severe downpour since records began, causing damage put at €10m to the Costa del Sol capital in just a few hours.

Monitors show more than 87 litres of water lashed the city’s port in one hour on Sunday morning.

Police, firefighters and ambulance crews were called out to more than 200 weather-related emergencies.

Dozens of homes were evacuated, La Malagueta beach was severely affected, the roof of the Cathedral began taking in water, several public buildings sustained water damage and an estimated 500 cars were written off by the thunderous hail.

In other areas elderly residents of a care home had to be evacuated, a pregnant woman had to be rescued from a floating car, three vehicles were damaged when a road gave way and numerous cars were written off when underground car parks flooded.

The storm which lashed the city for several hours also saw more than 450 lightning bolts strike, but there were no reports of injuries.

Despite the severity of the downpour, the weather front did not stretch to all areas of the city. Whilst the central and eastern areas bore the brunt of Sunday morning’s onslaught, other parts were barely affected.

In just two hours the port received more than 150 litres of rainfall, but the airport, which is only miles away, recorded a relatively meagre 28 litres during the same period.

Malaga bore the brunt of the damage but there was also extremely heavy rain in Benalmadena and Torremolinos, and some flooding from the Fuengirola river.

One unexpected benefit of the rain was the rise in levels of the La Concepcion dam which serves the entire Costa del Sol, including Marbella and Mijas.