By Jon Nazca
GRAZALEMA, Spain, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Storm Leonardo pounded the Iberian peninsula with torrential rains on Thursday, prompting more flood warnings, as a man was killed by a deluge in Portugal and Spanish rescuers searched for a woman swept away by a river as she tried to save her dog.
Leonardo is the latest in a wave of half a dozen winter storms to hit Portugal and Spain since the start of 2026, killing several people, ripping roofs off homes and flooding towns.
Flooding is becoming more frequent across Europe as the atmosphere warms and holds more moisture due to climate change, scientists say. Unprecedented flash floods killed 237 people in Spain’s Valencia region in October 2024.
A man of around 70 died on Wednesday in Portugal’s southern Alentejo region after his car was swept away on a flooded road near a dam, Portuguese authorities said.
In southern Spain’s Malaga province, authorities searched for a woman dragged away in the strong current of the Turvilla River while trying to rescue her dog.
“We spent the whole afternoon and night yesterday searching. We found the dog, but not her,” Malaga fire chief Manuel Marmolejo said on Spanish television.
MOUNTAINS CAN’T ABSORB ANY MORE WATER
In Grazalema, a village in Andalusia’s mountains popular with hikers, water seeped through the walls of houses and down the village’s steep cobbled streets.
“The mountains are full, they can’t absorb any more water. In some of the old houses, the old sewers are overflowing. The concern is that it won’t stop raining,” said Jose Maria Barea, 39, a restaurant owner.
Juan Manuel Moreno, president of Andalusia’s regional government, said Grazalema had received the same amount of rain in 16 hours as falls in the Madrid region in a year.
Two reservoirs down the mountain from Grazalema were at risk of overflowing. Authorities planned to drain them, he said.
Storm Marta, the next weather front in the so-called “storm train”, is expected to hit the region over the weekend, according to state weather agency Aemet.
In southern Portugal, people waded waist-deep through Alcacer do Sal after the river Sado breached its banks. Restaurant terraces were completely underwater, with sandbags stacked in front of doors to protect homes and shops.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s surreal,” said resident Maria Cadacha. “There are a lot of people here, very good people, many shopkeepers, homes with damage. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.”
(Reporting by Jon Nazca in Grazalema, Paolo Laudani, Emma Pinedo Gonzalez and Andrey Khalip; editing by Charlie Devereux, Alexandra Hudson)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.