Lightning strike causes tower block fire
Bolts hit buildings and other locations across Alicante province
THOUSANDS of lightning bolts illuminated the night sky during the spectacular storm which hit Alicante province and south-eastern Spain on Sunday night.
Alicante university climatology lab noted that ‘many bolts of lightning’ had impacted with the ground or other obstacles.
University meteorologist Samuel Biener noted that there had been ‘several alarms’ in Benidorm.
The provincial fire service reported that they were called to attend to a fire on the roof of a 26-storey tower block.
A video, shared on the Costa Blanca News Facebook page, shows a lightning bolt striking the Balcón de Poniente building in Avenida Uruguay.
Three fully equipped firefighting vehicles were deployed, receiving a local police escort to reach the tower block as quickly as possible.
On arrival, they found the fire was affecting containers, where there were also gas meters. The firefighters quickly extinguished the flames before they spread to other parts of the building or caused an explosion.
A lightning strike in Crevillente caused a power failure during the storm leaving homes without electricity.
Sr Biener noted that the cloudbursts that accompanied the storm brought ‘mud rain’, which left a film of dirt over cars, terraces and outdoor furniture on Monday morning.
On Monday afternoon further storms hit the region.
A cloudburst which brought hail and torrential rain forced the closure of the CV-865 Elche to Santa Pola road, according to the emergency services.
A spokesman reported that around 40 litres per square metre of rain fell, with 14 l/m2 hitting the area in just 10 minutes at around 19.00.
He noted that the road was closed for around two hours while the water drained away.
The provincial fire brigade reported that they carried out a number of actions to pump
away flood water in and around Elche that evening.
Petrer, Aspe and Crevillente were also affected by the intense rainfall.