After several days of heavy rain and flooding, the Technical Advisory Committee of the Meteobal and Inunbal plans declared on Tuesday the end of the emergency phase in Ibiza, which now enters the stage of recovery and a return to normality. The decision was taken this morning during a joint meeting between the Emergency Coordination Centre in Mallorca and the Advanced Command Post in Sa Coma, Ibiza, taking into account the improved weather forecast and the safe condition of the island’s infrastructure.
With this change, the Inunbal Plan moves into the recovery phase in both Ibiza and Formentera, while it has been fully deactivated in Mallorca and Menorca, where it had been activated at Operational Situation 0 (SO-0).
Withdrawal of troops
Following the deactivation of Operational Situation 2, the Military Emergency Unit (UME) has begun withdrawing from the island. In the coming hours, the deployed troops will leave Ibiza. Lieutenant Colonel Martínez Puy publicly thanked all local institutions for their cooperation, which, he said, greatly facilitated the execution of their assigned tasks.
Despite the change in phase, there are still 18 open incidents being handled by local services. All are expected to be resolved in the coming hours, according to the Emergency Department.
New action plans
At the same time, the Emergency Action Plan for Infrastructure in Ibiza, activated last Monday, remains in force with the aim of minimising the impact of possible new floods should heavy rain return in the short term. In the long term, definitive solutions are already being developed for the most affected areas, particularly the airport highway, which has been closed several times due to flooding, causing major communication problems.
Since the start of the alert for rain and storms on 9 October, a total of 192 incidents have been recorded in Ibiza, distributed by municipality as follows: Vila, 79 incidents; Sant Josep, 48; Santa Eulària, 39; Sant Joan, 14; and Sant Antoni, 12.
Most incidents were related to flooding in buildings and businesses (94 cases), followed by flooding on public roads (34) and standing water or liquid obstacles on roadways (11).
Across the Balearic Islands as a whole, between 9 October at 6 a.m. and today, 346 incidents have been reported, 101 of which occurred in Mallorca, all related to the effects of storm Alice.
Weather forecast
The Meteobal Plan has also been readjusted: the yellow alert (IG-0) has been lifted in Ibiza and Formentera, although it remains in place in Mallorca and Menorca, where rain is still expected on Wednesday morning—particularly in Menorca and northern Mallorca. However, rainfall is forecast to decrease throughout the day.
According to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), rain is expected to continue throughout the remainder of October, although it is not expected to reach the intensity recorded in recent weeks.