From six o'clock yesterday afternoon, the Tenerife Cabildo closed access roads to the Teide National Park, both through La Esperanza and La Orotava, a measure that will be in place until Monday, the main reason, being snow, which started early yesterday, with the first flakes on Mount Teide.
Given that the weather forecast is the situation will worsen today, the TF-24 from the junction of the Arafo highway to El Portillo; the TF-21from La Caldera in La Orotava; and also the cable car, which will remain closed until Monday, while the TF-523 is cut from kilometre 10.
These closures were carried out after an agreement between the insular councillor for Roads, Enrique Arriaga, and the insular councillor for the Natural Environment and Security, Isabel García, with the mayors of La Orotava, Guía de Isora and Vilaflor, and with the councillor for Citizen Security of El Rosario, with whom they met yesterday afternoon to coordinate the actions planned for the meteorological alert.
As for the closed forest tracks and walks, they correspond to the General de Arico, the Ramón El Caminero to Izaña and the Montaña del Limón. Also the section that goes from Piedra de los Pastores to the La Orotava-El Portillo highway (TF-21), that of Arenas Negras, Montaña de las Flores and Montaña del Cascajo, in the section that goes from the recreational area of Arenas Negras (from the viewing point) to the Chío-El Teide road (TF-38).
The Cabildo will establish a constant surveillance of the evolution of the meteorological situation, with special attention to its incidence on roads and forest tracks of the Island. Because today’s forecast shows that snowfall will intensify, the Island Corporation begs that people avoid accessing the Teide National Park and to respect the road closures established by the Cabildo and the affected municipalities.
The drop in temperatures which has brought the ‘polar trough’ that is affecting the Archipelago until tomorrow (Saturday), has also allowed the presence of hail in relatively low points such as Tegueste or Santa Úrsula. In addition, the intense rain, which has been recorded at over 50 litres per square metre in almost all the affected islands, has caused landslides on some roads in Tenerife, such as Las Carboneras.
In Santa Cruz, Aguas Emmasa had to open the drainage gates of their treatment plant due to the increase in flow because of the rain that fell in El Rosario and La Laguna. In the latter town, the wind and rain last night caused a breakdown in a high-voltage pylon in Tejina, which caused power cuts and rises and falls at points along the coast of the municipality. Endesa and staff from the Municipal Services area went to try to solve the problem, as confirmed by the City Council.
The heavy rains also caused serious damage to the animals at the Tierra Blanca shelter, located in Fasnia, where their kennels have been flooded again for the third time in six months.
This storm has led the Government of the Canary Islands to activate the alert for snowfall in Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria. In these last two, in the afternoon of yesterday, the roads were closed to prevent the access of citizens due to the meteorological risk.
Despite the intensity of the rains throughout the day, no major incidents were recorded in the north of Tenerife, apart from in Tacoronte, in the La Caridad neighbourhood, where a tree fell but did not cause any injuries or material damage.
Finally, in Puerto de la Cruz the TF-31 access road through Martiánez was closed due to the “waterfall” that usually forms when it rains heavily.
