Madrid Residents Told to Stay at Home as Torrential Rain Sweeps across Spain

A vehicle passes through a large puddle of water caused by heavy rain following a Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) red alert for severe storms, Madrid, Spain, September 3, 2023. (Reuters)
A vehicle passes through a large puddle of water caused by heavy rain following a Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) red alert for severe storms, Madrid, Spain, September 3, 2023. (Reuters)
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Madrid Residents Told to Stay at Home as Torrential Rain Sweeps across Spain

A vehicle passes through a large puddle of water caused by heavy rain following a Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) red alert for severe storms, Madrid, Spain, September 3, 2023. (Reuters)
A vehicle passes through a large puddle of water caused by heavy rain following a Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) red alert for severe storms, Madrid, Spain, September 3, 2023. (Reuters)

Madrid's mayor on Sunday advised all residents to stay at home as the capital braced itself for torrential rain and storms affecting parts of Spain.

National weather agency AEMET issued a maximum red alert, which means possible extreme danger, for Sunday in the Madrid region, Toledo province, and the city of Cadiz.

It said up to 120 liters per square meter of rain could fall over 12 hours in Madrid.

"Due to the exceptional and abnormal situation, in which rainfall records will be broken, I ask the people of Madrid to stay at home today," Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Dark storm clouds were gathering over Madrid during the early afternoon of Sunday, but many people were outside as usual.

"I think (the red alert) is a good idea," said Madrid resident Manuel Loro, 42. "The best thing to do is not to use your car today. It's going to be strongest at six o'clock so we'll go home earlier."

Madrid's emergency services sent texts to residents warning them of flood risks and advising them not to use vehicles.

LaLiga suspended an evening match between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid due to the alert.

In Alcanar, Tarragona, on Spain's east coast, emergency services have also confined residents to their homes due to flooding after 215 liters per square meter of rain in the past 24 hours.



Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
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Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Shigemi Fukahori, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing, who devoted his life to advocating for peace has died. He was 93.

Fukahori died at a hospital in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Jan. 3, the Urakami Catholic Church, where he prayed almost daily until last year, said on Sunday. Local media reported he died of old age.

The church, located about 500 meters from ground zero and near the Nagasaki Peace Park, is widely seen as a symbol of hope and peace, as its bell tower and some statues and survived the nuclear bombing.

Fukahori was only 14 when the US dropped the bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, including his family. That came three days after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. Japan surrendered days later, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

Fukahori, who worked at a shipyard about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from where the bomb dropped, couldn’t talk about what happened for years, not only because of the painful memories but also how powerless he felt then.

About 15 years ago, he became more outspoken after encountering, during a visit to Spain, a man who experienced the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War when he was also 14 years old. The shared experience helped Fukahori open up.

“On the day the bomb dropped, I heard a voice asking for help. When I walked over and held out my hand, the person’s skin melted. I still remember how that felt,” Fukahori told Japan’s national broadcaster NHK in 2019.

He often addressed students, hoping they take on what he called “the baton of peace,” in reference to his advocacy.

When Pope Francis visited Nagasaki in 2019, Fukahori was the one who handed him a wreath of white flowers. The following year, Fukahori represented the bomb victims at a ceremony, making his “pledge for peace,” saying: “I am determined to send our message to make Nagasaki the final place where an atomic bomb is ever dropped.”

A wake is scheduled for Sunday, and funeral services on Monday at Urakami Church, where his daughter will represent the family.