El Hierro hit hard by torrential rain

El Hierro hit hard by torrential rain
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By m.p. - Jan 28, 2007 - 9:51 PM

Some of the damage left by severe weather this weekend on El Hierro. Photo � EFE.

Island authorities describe it as the worst natural disaster in its history

The President of the government on El Hierro has described the storm which hit the island this weekend as the worst natural disaster in its history, surpassing even the Delta tropical storm two years ago, and last year’s forest fire.

Tomás Padrón said the island will take months to recover from the damage caused.

The worst affected was El Pinar, where he said around 500 litres of rainfall fell on the village in the space of 36 hours.

A road was completely washed away by the deluge.

Many people had to be evacuated from their homes, and water supply was also affected in many areas.

The authorities were working on Sunday to reopen the road to La Restinga, which had been cut off since Saturday.

Elsewhere in the Canaries, a wall collapsed onto parked cars in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria forcing a nearby building to be evacuated.

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