Hugo´s flood: Asturias received as much rain in two days as in a complete month of March

Asturias was the second community (behind the Balearic Islands) to accumulate the greatest amount of rain last weekend, and especially on Sunday, when it received more than 85 liters per square meter in Piloña, according to the records of the State Meteorological Agency. Nearly 70 were also counted in Amieva and Cabrales and about 55 in Aller. Between Saturday and Sunday, 74.8 liters per square meter fell in Oviedo, which was flooded. The amount is almost as much as what is usual throughout the month of March. This relationship occurred almost throughout Asturias, in view of the data from March 2017

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Hugo storm caused harm in Asturias. The socialist mayors of Parres and Villaviciosa, two of the councils most affected by the floods, urged yesterday those in charge of the Cantabrian Hydrographic Confederation (CHC) to take measures against the floods. Parres, where the storm caused several landslides and kept the users of the hospital in suspense due to a possible evacuation, the councilor Emilio Longo pointed out that "it is the thousandth time that the general administration, the only one with competences in this matter, is asked to execute a project so essential for the safety of Arriondas". One of the most critical moments occurred around eleven o'clock at night, when the Piloña River grew at a rate of 30 centimeters per hour flooding several garages in the area of the Arriondas school.

The mayor of Villaviciosa, Alejandro Vega, yesterday sent a letter to the new Government Representative in Asturias, Mariano Marín, to ask for his support before of the General Directorate of Water of the Ministry of Agriculture, so that they carry out the study as well as the drafting of a project against flooding in the council. Vega requested an urgent meeting with members of the Confederation, who would have been sent a plenary agreement from December asking for works such as the reconstruction of a riprap next to the social housing of Les Colomines, reforms in El Puentón and frequent cleaning in the urban stretch of the Linares river. "We did not get an answer", he lamented. For its part, the PP of Villaviciosa criticized that since the arrival of Vega to the Mayor's office "the Linares River has not been cleaned again". It also added that in the recently approved budgets "not even one euro is contemplated for the maintenance of the riverbed in good condition".