Boat crashed on rocks in Formentera

The 30.5-metre Wally sailing yacht Wally Love has run aground on the Spanish island of Formentera after being caught in the severe DANA storm, which is passing through Spain’s Balearic islands.

The DANA weather front, which translates as Isolated Depression at High Levels, unloaded over the sea last night (14 August 2024) and continues to cause havoc in Mallorca. The storm is currently at its peak.

Dramatic footage captured by an onlooker reveals Wally Love stranded on the shoreline, listing heavily to starboard. Several other sailing yachts have also run aground nearby after the storm raised water levels and caused them to hit nearby rocks.

Footage of the storm’s aftermath on Formentera yesterday shows several boats washed up on the shore after 60 knots of wind battered the island. Eight people were hurt on a yacht that crashed into rocks in Cala Saona in Formentera, prompting a rescue operation.

The DANA weather system has brought strong winds that have caused significant disruption. At Ibiza Airport, gusts reached 89 km/h around 10:20 a.m. Meanwhile, in Formentera, the port of La Savina had to be closed as winds exceeded 100 km/h.

María José Guerrero, spokesperson for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) in the Balearic Islands, tells Majorca Daily Bulletin that the Majorcan town of Puerto Pollensa saw “48 litres of precipitation in just one hour, 18.8 litres of which fell in just 10 minutes” earlier today.

Emergency responders in Calvià reported multiple fallen trees blocking streets and confirmed that a lightning strike damaged a police station. An orange weather alert had been issued for the islands, so the sudden shift in weather was anticipated.

A rare red alert has been issued for the north/northeast of Mallorca earlier today (15 August 2024) with yellow warnings in place elsewhere until tomorrow.

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The Balearic government’s emergencies department has prohibited all outdoor group activities until Friday.

There have been several large storms around the world this year, with increasingly unpredictable global weather patterns caused by climate change.

In July, Hurricane Beryl ripped through the Caribbean. Among the widespread devastation, the cost to boating communities was been extremely high.

In August 2023, Hurricane Idalia reversed a river and ripped boats from moorings after making historic landfall in Florida and in February of the same year, a SailGP boat was ripped apart as freak storm hit Sydney, Australia. Prior to that, Hurricane Ian ‘threw boats around like toys’ as it battered Florida.

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