Rain: for some too much, for others too little by Laura Gilchrist
Rain has been a blessing or a bane recently, depending upon whom it has fallen. For Spain it wasn’t enough, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape it’s been too much.
Last year Spain had its worst year for rainfall since records began 147 years earlier. It led to restrictions on water use for irrigation purposes, and affected the power industry which draws 12 per cent of power from hydroelectric plants. Water levels in Spain’s reservoirs are now even lower than last year, with some in the south of the country only around 10 per cent full. But the heavy rain last week, associated with the remnants of Hurricane Gordon, boosted the reservoirs, though only by a little. Spain still has a long way to go before the drought passes.
Meanwhile parts of South Africa have seen enough rain lately. A rain-swollen dam near Port Shepstone in Kwazulu-Natal burst on Tuesday, washing away part of a main road. A hole measuring 30 metres (98 feet) wide and 10 metres (33 feet) deep left the road impassable, and trees felled by strong winds caused further problems elsewhere in the local area. 188 mm (7.4 inches) of rain had reportedly fallen in Port Shepstone in just 9 hours on Tuesday, with more rain forecast. The rain has been also heavy in Eastern Cape, and the South Africa Weather Service were warning of further downpours and flash flooding for Wednesday, with snow at higher elevations.
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