FURTHER STORM ALERT FOR CANARIES

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Monday March 1 2010

The Spanish State Meteorological Agency declared a yellow alert in the western Canaries on Monday.

by JAMES TWEEDIE

The alert, in response to predicted high winds and heavy seas, was imposed in the island of La Palma from 6 pm local time (GMT) on Monday and was to be extended to Tenerife and the rest of the Canary Islands on Tuesday March 2.

The agency forecast that that western islands of the archipelago would experience strong winds on Tuesday, with gusts of up to 75 kph (45 mph) on the north, east, south and west coasts and gales of up to 85 kph (50 mph) in La Orotava and Vilaflor.

Waves of up to five metres were expected to the north-east of La Palma on Tuesday, with very heavy seas around Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro as well.
Tenerife's Cabildo government prohibited hiking and camping in mountainous and forested areas for the period of the alert due to the risk of injury from falling trees and branches.
Tenerife was on orange alert during storms over the weekend. Hundreds of pine trees were uprooted by the wind in the Mount Teide national park, blocking the road from La Oratava to the mountain. Crews were set to begin clearing the roads on Tuesday, a job that was expected to take until Monday March 8 to complete.
The island suffered its third total electricity blackout in a year in the small hours of Monday morning following a fault at the Candelaria substation, but power was restored before daybreak.
Opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) regional MP Francisca Luengo blamed the blackouts on the ruling Canarian Coalition (CC) - Popular Party (PP) alliance.
She said: "The latest of these blackouts cannot be attributed to bad weather, and so the clear absence of electricity infrastructure is more than evident."
Also on Monday Green campaigners Ben Magec - Ecologists in Action blamed the massive damage from the February 1 flash floods - estimated by some insurance companies at over €19 million - on years of bad urban planning.

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