DANA has been in the news in the last few days. I’d never come across these initials before, despite having been coming to Spain for over fifty years and having lived here for more than a decade and a half.
Previously I’d only come across the name three times.
The Eurovision song contest winner Dana from Ireland, who scored a massive hit with “All Kinds of Everything” after she won the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest aged 18 and still a schoolgirl.
She entered politics in 1997, and was elected as an MEP for Connacht-Ulster in 1999, where she served from 1999 to 2004.
Dana is the same age as I am - 74.
The second is my step-niece Dana, a German physiotherapist, who is the daughter of my German brother-in-law Horst. She is in her early 40s.
The third Dana is from Texas, USA, and is the wife of my amigo Paul Sachs, also from Texas. They have a house in Montejaque (Málaga), where I also have property, and are frequent visitors to this pueblo blanco.
All three of these Danas are beautiful women, by the way.
DANA 2024
The latest DANA is NOT beautiful, however. Making its first significant appearance in Spain for several decades – which explains why I’d never heard of it – it has devastated large parts of southern and eastern Spain in the last few days. The provisional death toll is 95, but dozens of people are unaccounted for.
DANA, or “Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos” (Isolated Depression at High Levels), is also known as a "gota fria” (cold drop) and occurs when a cold air mass becomes isolated in the atmosphere. When this cold air collides with the warm, humid air of the Mediterranean, it triggers torrential rains and extreme weather conditions.
The main areas affected are Castilla-La Mancha, País Valenciano and Andalucía.
DANA affected areas [El Tiempo]
Worst hit is the Valencia region, which reports most of the deaths so far. The severe weather, consisting of thunder and lightning, heavy rain, hailstones and high winds has devastated communities from Valencia all the way to Málaga and Cádiz provinces.
The devastation in inland Málaga, not far from where we live in Ronda, has to be seen to be believed: burst river banks, flooded houses, electricity blackouts, dozens of cars washed away, crops ruined.
Coastal resorts are also under water and parts of the A3 and A7 roads have been closed because of severe flooding.
Photos courtesy of Instagram
Where will it end?
The response from the authorities has been fast and effective, with Policia Local and Los Bomberos in the forefront. Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil have also played their part, as have the Spanish military.
Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, is visiting the stricken Valencia region today (Thursday) and King Felipe VI has addressed the nation on TV
The European Union has promised financial and other support.
Pedro Sanchez addresses the nation [Agencia efe]
What next?
This is an ongoing story. A disaster of catastrophic proportions, unseen in Spain in over a century. Is climate change to blame? It makes you think, doesn’t it?
STOP PRESS:
Monday 4 November 2024 07.05 am
There have been two comments posted by "guitareth" and "Salmon", taking me to task over a part of what I wrote in this article.
I can only say two things in my defence:
Firstly, I always carry out meticulous research before writing something and in this case I sourced my comments in the Spanish Press (ABC and Diario SUR).
Secondly, DANAs may be commonplace in the Valencia region and the term may be familiar to residents of that area, like "guitareth". Such weather events are less frequent down here in Andalucia. I have lived here for 16 years and am a keen student of all things Spanish. There has never been talk of La DANA. We just don't have them normally here in the south, at least not on such a destructive scale as now. If "Salmon", who lives in Málaga, has heard talk of La DANA he must read different papers and watch different TV to me.
STOP PRESS 2:
On Monday morning 4 November the offical death toll has leaped to 217.
© Paul Whitelock
Acknowledgements:
ABC
Diario SUR
MSN
RTVE
SUR in English
The Olive Press
Wikipedia
Links:
PHOTOS: What is DANA and Why Did This Phenomenon Turn Parts of Spain Into an Apocalyptic Scene?
What is DANA, the weather system that brought Spain a year's worth of rain in one day and its worst natural disaster in modern history? - ABC News
Tags:
ABC, Andalucia, Bomberos, Castilla-La Mancha, climate change, Dana, DANA, “Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos”, Diario SUR, European Union, Eurovision Song Contest, "gota fria”, Guardia Civil, Ireland, Isolated Depression at High Levels, MSN, País Valenciano, Paul Whitelock, Pedro Sanchez, Policia Local, Policia Nacional, RTVE, Ronda, Spanish military, SUR in English, The Olive Press, UK, Valencia, Wikipedia