Madrid, Mar 20: A man and his wife have been confirmed dead, and another person remains missing as torrential rain from storm Laurence continues to impact southern Spain, local authorities reported on Wednesday.Rescue services in the southwestern province of Seville recovered the bodies of the couple on Wednesday after their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters near the municipality of Constantina. The pair had been reported missing earlier.
Meanwhile, a man in his seventies has been missing since Monday near the city of Cordoba.
The Seville City Council activated an emergency plan on Tuesday, placing 14 rivers on red alert for flooding in the provinces of Seville, Cordoba, and Malaga, Xinhua news agency reported. At least two rivers, the Guadalhorce and Campanillas, overflowed, forcing evacuations in several neighbourhoods in Malaga and the nearby town of Cartama.
Storm Laurence is the latest in a series of storms to hit Spain, which has received twice the average monthly rainfall in the first two weeks of March.
Last month, the European Commission called for faster progress across the European Union (EU) to protect waters and better manage flood risks.
According to the latest report on the state of water in the EU, only 39.5 per cent of EU surface water bodies have good ecological status while only 26.8 per cent of waters are achieving good chemical status.
“This is mainly due to widespread contamination by mercury and other toxic pollutants,” said the Commission, adding that water scarcity and drought are also growing concerns across most of the EU waters.
Therefore, it recommended that states should increase compliance with EU water laws to adhere to pollution limits, improve wastewater discharge, and ensure sufficient funding to enable effective implementation of water management measures. They should also address persistent environmental challenges, such as chemical pollution, and promote water reuse, the Commission said.
Member states need to invest in flood prevention, which must be based on ecosystem restoration, nature-based solutions, and early warning systems, it added, citing several massive floods affecting many EU countries, including Slovenia, Spain, Germany, Austria, Poland, Romania, and France over the past two years.
Though much needs to be done, the commission also noted significant progress over the past few years. According to the report, marine macro litter on the EU coastline went down by 29 per cent from 2020 to 2021 compared to the 2015-2016 period. Meanwhile, single-use plastic on EU coastlines has been reduced by 40 per cent, and fisheries-related items and plastic bags were down by 20 per cent.