Do not use your car! This is the advice from the emergency services as torrential rain, electric storms and rivers breaking their banks have brought chaos to the Murcia region.
Some 37 main roads, such as the A30 to Murcia and the A7 to Alicante, are closed due to flooding and landslides.
In Calasparra the upper road to the Sanctuary, via Los Viveros, has been closed since Wednesday, due to the risk of landslides, roads in central Calasparra have been reduced to rivers and the Avenida Juan Ramon Jimenez was closed temporarily at 6am this morning after a tree fell near the Guardia Civil HQ.
Almost 500 people had been evacuated in the region yesterday, before last night´s storms, and the Autonomous Government has declared a State of Emergency Level 2 and called in the National Defence Force (UME).
In some areas of the region 400mm of rain per square meter has fallen and in Calasparra some 73 litres of rain per square meter was registered between 9am and 3 pm on Thursday alone and 88 litres per square meter by the end of the day in the town centre.
A rock fall at the entrance to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Hope has caused some damage but no injuries and the Sanctuary has been closed as a precaution.
All eyes are on the river Segura, which has already broken its banks in various parts of the region, and caused considerable flood damage to the terraces at the Sanctuary in 2013.
Photos show the tree fallen in Av Juan Ramon Jimenez; flooding in Calasparra town centre and park; and flooding at the Cuesta Blanca on the Valentin Road.
