The Spanish government will send convoys carrying the coronavirus vaccine and food supplies today to areas cut off by Storm Filomena which brought the heaviest snowfall in decades across central Spain and killed four people.
Across central Spain, over 430 roads were affected by the rare blizzard and hundreds of travellers were stranded at Madrid’s Barajas airport gradually reopened yesterday.
Forecasters warned of dangerous conditions in the coming days, with temperatures expected to fall to up to -10° Celsius (14° Fahrenheit) next week and the prospect of snow turning to ice and damaged trees falling.
“The commitment is to guarantee the supply of health, vaccines and food. Corridors have been opened to deliver the goods,” Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos said yesterday.
About 100 workers and shoppers have spent two nights sleeping at a shopping centre in Majadahonda, a town north of Madrid, after they were trapped by the blizzard on Friday.
“There are people sleeping on the ground on cardboard,” Ivan Alcala, a restaurant worker, told TVE television.
Dr Álvaro Sanchez walked 17km through the snow on Saturday to work at a hospital in Majadahonda, prompting owners of 4x4 vehicles to give health workers lifts to work.
One man and a woman in a car drowned after a river burst near Malaga in the south, while two homeless people froze to death in Madrid and Calatayud in the east, officials said.
Train services from Madrid, which were cancelled since Friday, resumed yesterday.
The state meteorological agency Aemet said that up to 20-30cm (7-8”) of snow fell in Madrid on Saturday, the most since 1971.
Spanish officials meanwhile raced to clear the roads of snow before a cold snap transforms them into icy death traps.
The storm also brought heavy rains before moving through eastern Spain into southern France.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that the danger is that the piles of snow could transform into ice because of the unprecedented low temperatures expected.
A fleet of snow-ploughs and gritters were out on the streets of Madrid yesterday, where the city’s mayor, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, said there was not a minute to be lost.
“Our aim is to make the most of every minute before Monday, when the drop in temperature happens,” he told Sexta television. “From then, until the end of the week, it’s going to be very difficult to get about.”
The capital Madrid and the surrounding region was one of the areas worst hit by the snow, with levels of snowfall not seen since 1971.
The army also had to clear the snow from Madrid airport, one of the regions worst hit by the snowstorm, which had forced the cancellation of flights from late Friday.
Volunteers helped soldiers clear access to the city’s hospitals, still struggling to cope with the country’s coronavirus crisis.
“We’re very aware of the importance of keeping their access clear,” said Felix Sanchez, a 52-year-old Madrid resident, as he helped out at the entrance to the Gregorio Maronon hospital.
While some worked, others joined the long queues at bakers and the few supermarkets open to stock up ahead of the big freeze.
Others meanwhile, made the most of the conditions, getting about on skis.
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