Lorca mayor puts flood damage at over 100 million euros

Jódar gave a summary of the goods and property damaged, destroyed or lost in the flash floods, including 300 homes with serious structural damage and 260 livestock farms with "severe damage", most of them dedicated to goat farming.

In the five days since flash floods hit the area, more than 200 tonnes of dead animals have been removed from the farms, a task which has been completed with speed to avoid "a sanitation problem".

"Now we are finding just the occasional animal as areas of intense flooding gradually dry out, or where mudslides have been cleared away" said the mayor.

Around 10,000 hectares of arable land "are severely affected" especially in the areas where the rivers Béjar, Biznaga, Torrecilla and Nogalte converge.

The most serious damage occurred in the villages of La Escucha, Altobordo y Campillo, which are being considered the "core" of the natural catastrophe.

In terms of local infraestructures Jódar pointed out the 260 km of minor roads and dirt tracks that have been practically erased from the map - the equivalent of 20% of the town's road network.

Around 130 km of rural roads will have to "completely replaced", whilst the other 50% will require "major repairs", added the mayor.

The town council has also been working to evaluate the losses and damage to ground-floor shops and offices in the centre of town and to warehouses on the town's three industrial estates, which were visited today by the mayor.