MADRID: Spain and Portugal on Saturday braced for another storm heading for the Iberian peninsula, just days after the floods caused by Storm Leonardo killed at least one person in each country.
The latest depression, christened Storm Marta, has prompted the deployment of more than 26,500 rescuers in Portugal, where the foul weather has led three municipalities to postpone Sunday’s presidential vote till next week.
Both countries have issued warnings over the potential fresh floods, after inundations blocked hundreds of roads, disrupted trains and forced thousands to evacuate from the rising waters.
Mario Silvestre, commander in Portugal’s civil protection agency, warned that the forecast was “extremely worrying,” as quoted by the Lusa press agency.
His organization fears gusts of wind reaching 110 kilometers per hour after Marta reaches the Portuguese coastline, along with landslides and flash floods.
