Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Major Storm hits Tenerife (Video)

Some (The Miami Hurracane center) are calling it Tropical Storm "Candelaria," and others are calling it a hybrid storm (since the waters here are technically not warm enough to sustain a tropical storm)...whatever you call it, it brought high winds, high waves, and torrential rains.

On Monday, the government of the Canary Islands declared an orange, or ‘Level 2,′ state of emergency, closing schools and advising people not to leave their homes.

Water flows of up to 144,000 liters per minute were measured in Tenerife. Roads became rivers, slowing or stopping traffic. The roads were washed away in many places, and some roads even caved in, exposing water and sewage pipes. Tons of soil, vegetation, stones, logs and branches were carried down through towns and into the ocean.

From our place in Taibaiba, we saw plenty of rain, flooding, curtains of water falling from the expressway, and lots of waterfalls where it's normally dry. We lost power and water service for over 6 hours the day of the storm, and then lost water again the next day while they were repairing it.

We were home safe and sound during the entire storm. Jaime did his best to keep our patio from flooding and I entertained the boys with flashlights, shadow animals, and play-doh by candlelight...Then, it was dinner in the dark and an early bedtime for all of us.

Luckily, Tuesday was an Island-wide holiday so most people already had the day off from work and/or school. We headed out to check out the damage. By the time we got out of the house, crews had been working for several hours already, so we didn't get to see the "best of" things. We did still see plenty of flooded cars, roads, garages, businesses, and streets...we saw bulldozers, tow trucks, emergency vehicles, and a tour bus load full of emergency workers just in our town.

They are still cleaning the island, but things are starting to return to "normal" around here. As you watch this video, keep in mind that this is a normally dry area...the "waterfalls" do not exist at any level on a regular day.


3 comments:

Erin said...

WOW!! What an adventure!! Sounds like you handled it like a couple of pros! Glad you are okay. Give the boys a big smooch for me :)

Amy said...

Oh wow! So glad to hear that you guys are safe and sound!

Ruth said...

Oh my gosh!! It did rain, didn't it?? Glad to hear you were safe and sound during and after the storm. Hugs!