The tropical storm forces to suspend acts and classes

The president of Canary Islands Government, Angel Victor Torres, held an emergency meeting yesterday with those responsible for the island councils in order to coordinate the actions. Although Torres announced that, in view of the latest predictive models, the core of the phenomenon seems a priori unlikely to arrive directly or to stop on the Islands, that does not mean that significant rainfall will not occur

By the way, the president stressed that “it is possible that we are facing the most important of the last decade, according to what the technicians tell us”, while insisting that the Government had declared the maximum alert for rain, wind, storms and pluvial flooding in all the islands. In this sense, Torres explained that the foreseeable thing is that the tropical storm will begin to approach the Canary Islands through the western islands, reach greater intensity from noon today, Saturday, and that its peak will occur between Sunday and Monday. The rain will affect the entire Archipelago, but greater intensity is expected in La Gomera, El Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

Given this circumstance, the regional Executive proceeded yesterday to activate the Canary Islands Specific Emergency Plan for Risks of Adverse Meteorological Phenomena (Pefma). The level of alert according to the forecasts provided yesterday by the regional Executive is maximum in terms of the risk of flooding. In a pyramidal, chain reaction, the emergency plans were launched by the councils of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and Gran Canaria, as well as the municipal plans.

In view of the predictive models, it is expected that the conditions are conducive to the development of what is called a tropical depression, which would initially affect, starting today, Saturday, the western area (southwest) of the autonomous community, spreading throughout the weekend to the rest of the Archipelago.

From the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), its delegate in the Canary Islands, David Suárez, explained that the most probable evolution points to the cyclone being located to the southwest of the Canary Islands between tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday, emphasizing that the Islands they will receive an indirect impact, so he considered that special attention should be paid to rainfall and associated storms.

The forecast is that there will be widespread rainfall, many of them in the form of showers, although it is not ruled out that they could be locally strong and even very strong. In fact, the magnitudes that the Aemet shuffles suggest that it could be around 100 liters per square meter in 24 hours. As for the wind, it will have a certain intensity, reaching over 70 kilometers per hour.

The truth is that the consequences of the arrival of this tropical storm to the Archipelago have not been long in coming. Thus, the Ministry of Education has decreed the suspension of classes this Monday, while the opening ceremony of the 2022-2023 academic year that was scheduled to be held in the University of La Laguna (ULL), also announced for Monday, has been definitively cancelled.

Auditorio de Tenerife, a body dependent on the Cabildo de Tenerife, suspends the second Fimucité concert and also the open-air dance show Cossoc. As for Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (TEA), the celebration of the workshop that was going to be given by the artists Álvaro Urbano and Petrit Halilaj, as well as the screening of the film La traición de Huda, by Hany Abu-Assad, is cancelled.

The City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife reported that it had proceeded to mobilize all its troops in the face of the possible Adverse Meteorological Phenomenon (FMA) and, as immediate measures, had proceeded to clean scuppers and sewers, to review tanks and facilities, as well as the beds of the ravines. Likewise, from the Social Action area temporary accommodation has been offered to homeless people, prioritizing the cases of those who live on the banks or beds of the ravines. In this sense, 20 new beds have already been set up in the Municipal Shelter Center, known as the Shelter. As for the calendar of events, Mobility Week, Neighbor’s Day in Ofra and the Southwest District Party are suspended.

In the municipality of La Laguna, preventive measures have also been articulated and, as regards recreational activities, those planned in Heraclio Sánchez street, within the framework of the European Mobility Week, are suspended; the Inclusive Folklore Festival and dynamization activities for the elderly. As far as the City Council of El Rosario is concerned, the Canarian Equestrian Resistance Championship is canceled

In La Orotava, the Beer Festival (Beer Festival) is suspended, as well as the Diversaldo Fair, while in the municipality of Tacoronte the acts of the Octave of Christ, which are moved to next weekend, suffer the same fate. By the way, the mayor explained that the postponement of the Eighth and all the planned events, such as the Dance Festival, the II Aquathlon, the night procession and the fireworks, while on Sunday it will affect the traditional craft fair , the liturgy and subsequent procession of the Cristo de Los Dolores.

In the south of the island, in Granadilla, the procession and fireworks scheduled for this Saturday are suspended, on the occasion of the Patron Saint’s Day, as well as the XV Barquera Pilgrimage that was to be held tomorrow, Sunday. In Arona, the music band concert scheduled for today and tomorrow, Sunday, the Triathlon and Aquatlon Inverted Spring Hotels is cancelled.

In Adeje, the Black Sound Costa Adeje concerts, a black music festival, are not being held, while in Guía de Isora the Sacred Music Festival scheduled for Sunday is on hold.