The UME intervenes during the night, removing water from houses and streets in Ibiza.

PalmThe Military Emergency Unit (UME) intervened overnight Tuesday, carrying out cleanup work near the airport and removing water from roads and homes in Ibiza. The UME reported this in a message on the social network X, in which they detailed that they carried out missions such as cleaning a highway near Ibiza airport and removing water accumulated due to heavy rain from homes, garages, and streets.

The Emergency Unit has been operating in the area since Tuesday afternoon with the four personnel permanently on the island, reinforcing the operation with more personnel, a total of 152. This Tuesday, 12 of them departed from the Valencian Community by helicopter to arrive in Ibiza in the afternoon, and the remaining 140 personnel were scheduled to arrive overnight by boat from Valencia, along with vehicles such as excavators to work on affected infrastructure and roads.

The areas most affected by the rains are the municipalities of Ibiza, Santa Eulalia del Río, and San José de sa Talaia, where there have been several floods and road and access closures.

Emergencies have handled 37 urgent incidents overnight.

Emergency services handled 37 "priority" incidents on the island on Tuesday night, according to the Director General of Emergencies, Pablo Gárriz. Speaking to the press after the meeting of the Emergency Coordination Center held in Ibiza, which was attended by the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, Gárriz stated that the priority now is to restore the sections of roads closed after the storm, as well as to address homes where there is no power or where the home is unfit for habitation.

"We have worked with Endesa and Red Eléctrica to have electricity restored in all areas, except for some critical infrastructure such as the port area, where transformers are down," he stated. Gárriz also stated that they were concerned about the hydrocarbon logistics plant, from which the island receives its fuel. Currently, aviation fuel is guaranteed.

He explained that a technical team from the Education Department is assessing the condition of schools affected by the rains. "The teams are working at full capacity," he said. Finally, he insisted that the priority now is to guarantee the safety of the population and that normality can be restored "as soon as possible."

Sections of the Ibiza airport road and the Puig d'en Valls tunnel remain closed after the storm.

The Ibiza airport road, from the city to the Can Cifre tunnel, remains closed after last Tuesday's downpour. According to the Consell (Spanish Consell) on social media, the Puig d'en Valls tunnel is also closed. The institution urged drivers to exercise caution because many roads are covered in mud and rocks, which are already being removed.

Heavy rains of up to 200 l/m² in just a few hours led to road closures, flooding, and the preventive evacuation and closure of a school in Ibiza. During the night, the rain flooded the airport road underpasses, which are closed, forcing traffic to be diverted via overpasses. Part of the Jesús roundabout was also closed until 7:20 a.m., according to the Ibiza Council. Heavy rainfall continued throughout the morning on the island.

A hotel also suffered damage after rocks fell on part of the roof following a landslide caused by the heavy rain. However, there were only three minor injuries.

The Government's Director General of Emergencies, Pablo Gárriz, explained today that a request for support from the UME (Union of Emergency Medical Services) has been submitted, and the initial contingent is expected to arrive from Bétera to reinforce the operations currently underway. Subsequently, another contingent will arrive from Denia this Tuesday to reposition heavy equipment. A reinforcement operation is also being prepared from Mallorca with resources such as the Ibanat (National Emergency Medical Service), Forest Firefighters, Civil Guard, and Civil Protection.

"We are establishing a helicopter bridge to project personnel reinforcements," said Gárriz, who explained that there is an operations command in Ibiza. In Formentera, Gárriz acknowledged that there is less concern because at night pass it hasn't rained.

Alert message

The municipality of Ibiza and areas of Santa Eulària and Sant Josep were the areas in Ibiza most affected by the storm. Due to the accumulation of water, a massive civil protection alert was sent to the population of Ibiza and Formentera through the EsAlert system with the message: "Risk of flooding due to torrential rains. The population is requested to avoid travel and outdoor activities. Do not approach torrents, streams, or water, and do not go up to upper floors."

In order to assess the condition of the facilities after the heavy rainfall, technicians and architects from Ibisec will visit the schools this Wednesday to inspect their infrastructure.

The General Directorate of Emergencies and the Interior has convened the Technical Advisory Committee again and has decided to maintain the orange alert for rain and storms in the Pitiusas and activate Operational Situation 2 (LOW-2) of the Special Plan against the risk of flooding in Ibiza and Formentera.

Desalination plant stopped

The city's desalination plant also suffered the consequences of the rain, as the transformer that supplies the wells and pumps failed due to the rising waters of the Llavanera torrent. The other main treatment plants—Santa Eulària, Sant Antoni, and Can Bossa—overflowed, although they continued to operate with difficulty.

Hospital and health centers

Regarding Can Misses Hospital, heavy rains forced the suspension of consultations in the Ibiza and Formentera Health Department. Water leaks due to the recent rain affected the laboratory area of Can Misses Hospital and the Can Misses and Es Viver health centers, causing leaks. The rest of the hospital buildings were not affected.

Ibiza Firefighters have handled dozens of storm-related services in recent hours, most of them related to water accumulations in public roads, homes, businesses, and garages of residential buildings, according to sources from the island administration. They also received a call about a roof collapse, which the Local Police attended to, and several reports of people trapped in vehicles due to pools of water on the road, although no personal injuries were reported.

In Dalt Vila, earth and rock displacement was reported, as well as flooded streets and accumulated earth in the town center. In Sant Josep, flooding was reported in public roads and in some garages and ground floors of homes, power outages in various areas, dangerous elements on the road, and some incidents with vehicles. In Santa Eulalia, water entered the Jesús Cultural Center.

In Mallorca, the road from Mancor to Selva was affected.

Meanwhile, sources from the Mallorca Highway Department explained that the road from Mancor to Selva was closed due to excessive mud and rocks on the road following the downpours.