The Canary Islands are in a situation of significant risk this Monday, March 14 (orange warning) due to strong winds As a consequence of the passing of the stormy celia for the Islands.
The bad weather has stopped Canary Islands gusts of wind that have reached 155 kilometers per hour in Izaña (Tenerife), at 3:10 p.m. this Monday. It is the highest streak in the entire country, according to data from the Meteorology Statal Agency (Aemet).
The western province of the Canary Islands has been hit harder by the wind than the eastern one. In Alto Igualero, in Vallehermoso (La Gomera) 118 kilometers per hour were recorded at 9:30 am, 101 in Candelaria (Tenerife), 100 in Las Cañadas del Teide and 95 in Tenerife North Airport.
In Gran Canaria, the Aemet scored 71 kilometers per hour in Suerte Alta (Agaete) at 11:30 am this Monday and 78 kilometers in La Aldea de San Nicolás (10:00 am).
Suspension of teaching and extracurricular activity
Education suspends the school and extracurricular activity this afternoon due to the wind storm. The Regional Ministry of Education of the Canary Islands Government informs that the measure is adopted at the proposal of the General Directorate of Emergencies of the Autonomous Executive, which maintains the corresponding specific plan activated in the alert phase, and seeks to avoid exposure and displacement of members of the educational community.
As indicated by the Educational Administration, the Territorial Directorates have already contacted the management teams of the educational centers to inform them of this situation and so that the families of the non-university educational centers of Canary Islands.
The University of La Laguna (ULL) also decreed the cessation of evening activity as well as the closure of all facilities of the academic center from 15:00 hours. The institution clarifies that in principle the campuses will return to normal tomorrow, Tuesday, unless the weather situation remains at the same risk levels.
He too City Hall of Santa Cruzafter the activation of the PEMU, has announced the closure of all municipal facilities outdoors that involve the influx of public, whether sports, cultural, educational, and any other leisure and recreation, as well as the suspension of the activities that were planned in these spaces.
Since early in the morning Santa Cruz closed the parks and squares due to the wind alert. According to the Cecopal of the capital of Tenerifefor the moment the incidences of the strong gusts are summarized in falling branches and displacement of containers.
Also the fair attractionsinstalled in the Parque Marítimo car park, will remain closed due to the risk of their operation in this windstorm, as reported by the Autonomous Organism for Festivities and Recreational Activities (Oafar) of the consistory.
In fact, the entity explains that the closure of public spaces It is carried out preventively to prevent the wind from causing damage to citizens. So far there have been some 50 incidents in the capitalalthough some of the interventions are carried out to prevent the fall of the fence or signage at risk of detachment.
For its part, Arona City Council has decreed the suspension of all municipal activities, both outdoors and indoors, and any other activity carried out outside in the municipality, in addition to the closure of all municipal facilities, including sports and cultural facilities, as a precautionary measure in the face of adverse weather conditions due to wind. This situation will continue until the alert ends.
Members of the Local Police and Civil Protection of Arona, as well as municipal maintenance, cleaning, green areas, coastline and lifeguard workers, have been activated since Monday morning to respond to any incident, including securing the elements to prevent them from falling onto public roads, inspection and pruning of trees and branches, and cleaning of roads and streets. The red flag flies on all the beaches of Arona.
In this sense, municipal services personnel have had to withdraw from the Las Teresitas road several containers and hammocks from the beach that the wind has moved to the road. The gusts of wind have broken and displaced various infrastructures, from tents to containers, elements of the existing kiosks on the aforementioned beach. In addition, it has been necessary to cut the lane closest to the beach line to traffic because it was flooded after the rains due to the large amount of sand raised by the wind.
The most relevant incident, on the other hand, has occurred on the Rosario highway, when the daypartial understanding of a traffic light close to Our Lady of Candelaria University Hospital (Hunsc) hit a woman.
According to the Local Police, the affected person presents in principle minor injuries and was treated at the hospital itself.
Prevention measures have so far prevented personal injury to the fall from two large treesone of them in Parque La Granja and the other in the bike lane as it passes through Avenida de La Constitución.
In addition, the local police Santa Cruz of Tenerife reports that there has been a breakdown at the traffic light at the intersection of the Dominican Republic, although it does not clarify that it is due to the strong wind that hits the capital of Tenerife.
Other municipalities are also carrying out measures to mitigate the effects of the storm. On Garachico, for example, the Avenida Marítima has been closed until tomorrow in anticipation of the strong waves that are expected to hit the coast. It is a road that habitually suffers the onslaught of the sea.
In that northern municipality, the risk of flooding has led the Consistory to activate the Municipal Emergency Plan (PEMU). Thus, it has been recommended to the population do not approach the garachiquense coast and a Red Cross team has installed a temporary post to deal with possible incidents among the population.
During the first hours of the day, the Meteorology Statal Agency (Aemet) has recorded gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Despite this intensity, it is not the municipality with the worst figures: Izaña is the station that has endured the most wind, since the maximum speed has reached 150 kilometers per hour.
Incidents
The Emergency and Security Coordination Center (Cecoes) 1-1-2 has so far coordinated more than 200 incidents in various parts of the archipelago due to the wind alert situation in the Canary Islands as a result of the ‘Celia’ storm, which will affect the islands, at least, today and tomorrow.
Thus, rainfall is expected to be persistent in the north of the islands and will be accompanied by northerly winds with strong or very strong gusts and rough seas, with waves that can reach six meters.
As reported by 1-1-2, most of the incidents are located in the municipalities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna and are related to falling trees and branches, power lines, fences, walls and displacement of containers.
To a lesser extent, incidents are also dealt with in the Tenerife municipalities of Candelaria, Güímar and Arafo, and in the Gran Canaria municipalities of Teror, Arucas, Firgas and San Brígida.
In Tenerife, authorizations for use in the natural environment, crossings through protected natural spaces or use of recreational areas and the limitation of access to the Teide National Park, whose roads are closed to traffic, have been revoked.
In Adeje, the strong wind caused the fall of a water tank on the rear terrace of an apartment on Piedra Redonda street, in La Postura. In the same area, part of the structure of a roof in Plaza César Manrique also came off, one “sandwich-type panels” that affected some parked vehicles, according to sources from the Adeje council.
In the municipality of Guia de Isora, The security and emergency services intervened after the fall of a palm tree in one of the accesses to the coastal area of Playa San Juan. In addition, on the way up to the Acojeja neighborhood, a wall fell. Despite the fact that there are numerous stones on the road, it was possible to maintain traffic on said road.
The Civil Traffic Guard confirms that in Aguagarcia Sleet fell this morning, although it did not affect traffic on the road, since it quickly melted away.
In Gran Canaria, the detachment of a billboard and part of a wall in the capital of Gran Canaria on a bus of the public service that was carrying out its usual service.
Agents from the Local police After learning of the fall of this wall on the Cardón highway, at the height of the access to the Díaz Casanova Industrial Estate, they had to rescue the occupants of the vehicle.
Likewise, in the Paseo de Chil area, a palm tree has fallen in the direction of the port, before the intersection with Avenida de Escaleritas, for which a traffic lane has had to be closed.
flights
In transport, for the moment the strong gusts of wind have forced the diversion of two flights that were supposed to land in the Tenerife North airport from Fuerteventura and Madrid.
Both routes ended up stopping at the aerodrome in the South of the Island before the impossibility of landing in Los Rodeos. To them is added the cancellation of a flight that was to depart from La Palma to Tenerife and another to Gran Canaria.
In addition, today’s forecast of the Aemet is that Canary Islandswhich is affected by the Celia storm, receives precipitation in the form of snow above 1,500 meters high at the end of the day.
