SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 20 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Governing Council held this Thursday at the headquarters of the Presidency of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has approved opening the process of managing aid to those affected by the recent passage through the islands of the tropical storm ‘Hermine’, which forced to decree the alert maximum in the Archipelago from 00:00 on Saturday, September 24, to 12:00 on Monday, 26 of that month.
At the proposal of the President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, with this step the competent regional ministries, in coordination with the affected local administrations, are entrusted with articulating the precise measures and compensations, always compatible and complementary with those that they have established or establish in other public institutions in the future.
To this end, it is also proposed that any necessary budget modifications be taken into account and applied.
This cyclone caused damage due to abundant rains, wind and floods and brought with it landslides and road closures, especially in urban areas, apart from power outages.
Although the majority were minor or mild conditions, there was more substantial damage in municipalities such as La Aldea de San Nicolás, in Gran Canaria, said the government spokesman, Julio Pérez.
In this town, the accumulated water overflowed several ravines and caused damage to vehicles, homes, street furniture, public infrastructure and even the supply network.
In addition, two of the three highways that connect the municipality with the outside were cut off, both in the north and in the center, which aggravated the remoteness, singularities and reduced connectivity of this town.
The effects were not limited to the water and sewage network, but to the local desalination plant itself, which had to be worked on for days to fully recover and guarantee adequate service.
Homes in the Barranco Santo neighborhood were also damaged, which had to be thoroughly cleaned, and two livestock farms, whose accesses were blocked by the accumulation of stones. Likewise, the flooding of the ravine affected the Tarahalillo highway.
The Government of the Canary Islands understands that the damage caused makes it necessary to apply the constitutional principle of solidarity and, therefore, this process is activated to repair and mitigate, as far as possible, the losses and damage caused, so that the affected areas get back to normal as soon as possible.