The mayor of Costa Teguise – one of the areas worst-affected by torrential rainfall in Lanzarote – has heaped praised on hotel directors for saving lives during the apocalyptic flooding this week
A Lanzarote mayor responsible for a tourist resort battered by ‘Armageddon’-like rainfall has credited hotel directors with saving lives in the island’s horror flooding. The east coast resort of Costa Teguise was one of the worst-affected areas in a storm on Saturday afternoon, with some spots receiving more than a year’s worth of rain in two hours.
Some hotels were left without power as services across the island were affected. Speaking on local radio about the torrential rainfall and the problems it caused, Teguise mayor Olivia Duque said today: “Thanks to the quickness of hotel directors and people, there was no personal misfortune.
“We had to act quickly to close roads. It was chaotic, but the truth is that thanks to the collaboration of many people, volunteers, technicians, local police and the Civil Guard we were able to redirect the situation.”
Detailing how bad things got at hotels in Costa Teguise like the HD Beach Resort & Spa Hotel, which was one of the worst-affected, she said: “The water entered the hotel from the back and exited via reception and smashed doors. The images were very dramatic. Hotel directors reacted very well. Everything was worse because the rain took us by surprise, there was nothing organised, nothing prepared.”
More than 2,000 tourists were directly affected by Saturday’s flooding according to local reports, either because they had to be moved to other locations or transferred from ground-floor rooms.
Some hotels in Costa Teguise remained closed yesterday two days after the storm, likened by one British tourist as feeling like ‘Armageddon’, because of the damage caused by flooding. Others have confirmed they won’t reopen now for several weeks.
A receptionist at the three-star El Trebol hotel, which works exclusively with travel giant TUI, said: “We had to close on Saturday and the estimate now is that we won’t re-open until the start of June.”
TUI confirmed overnight in a statement: “Due to the lack of alternative accommodation on the island during the busy Easter period we unfortunately had to cancel a small number of holidays departing yesterday and today.
“Customers were able to receive a full-refund or amend to another TUI holiday with a re-booking incentive. As always, the safety of our customers and colleagues is our main priority therefore TUI resort teams are working with the local authorities to find customers currently in impacted hotels, alternative accommodation or return flights back to the UK.”
El Trebol, the hotel now set to close until June, was the one British tourists Mike Hallet and his wife were staying at and had to battle to get back to during the flooding only to discover it was out of running water.
It was not immediately clear today where the couple were now. Mike, 53, from Bridlington, Yorkshire, told Metro: “I’ve never seen water like it. I’m amazed no-one was killed. It felt like Armageddon.
“The fire brigade were at the hotel all night pumping water out. The kitchens were being cleared of mud on Sunday so they could make food. Guests were filling the room bins from the overflowing swimming pool to get water to flush the toilets.”
A clean-up to remove mud the floodwater left in its wake was continuing in parts of Lanzarote today. The island council has hired extra heavy machinery to speed up the job. Sunshine and temperatures of up to 22 degrees Celsius (71 degrees Fahrenheit) are predicted in tourist hotspots like Costa Teguise for the rest of the week.