Transit stalled as nation digs out from snowstorm
MADRID — Emergency crews in central Spain cleared 500 roads and rescued more than 1,500 people stranded in their vehicles, allowing Madrid and other areas on Sunday to slowly shovel out of the country’s worst snowstorm in recent memory.
After recording at least 20 inches of snow in the Spanish capital between Friday night and Saturday, Madrid and a large part of the country remained impassable Sunday, with roads, rail lines and air travel disrupted by Storm Filomena. The blizzard was blamed for four deaths.
Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos said that, by Sunday, crews had cleared two runways at Madrid’s Adolfo Suarez MadridBarajas International Airport and flights had restarted.
Trains traversing the capital gradually came back online Sunday, but the important highspeed line linking Madrid with Barcelona remained out of operation.
Over 150 roads were still impassable Sunday. Authorities said all trips by car should be postponed and tire chains were required for journeys that could not be avoided. They said all people trapped in their cars by the snow had been rescued, but hundreds of vehicles needed to be recovered after being abandoned by drivers.
Storm Filomena lost strength as it moved eastward, but authorities are still urging people to remain at home to limit the risk of falls on icy streets as a cold front moves in.
“The danger is not over,” Interior Minister Fernando GrandeMarkaska said. “A week of extreme cold is coming and that will transform all the snow on the ground into ice.”
Army emergency brigades focused Sunday on clearing access to Madrid’s main food distribution center and to hospitals, as Spain also grappled with its coronavirus crisis, with infections on the rise after the holidays.