A small Spanish town north of Barcelona was flooded with seafoam on Tuesday after deadly storm Gloria hit.
Jaw-dropping video shows mounds of murky seafoam blowing through the city streets of Tossa De Mar, 90 minutes north of the bustling coastal city.
In the footage, the foam appears to flow and move like the ocean. Building walls are covered in foam and two people can be seen standing off to the side, out of the material that has washed in thanks to the storm.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says most seafoam isn’t harmful to humans but adds that there are exceptions when it comes to large, harmful algal blooms that decay near shore.
Algal blooms refer to a quick accumulation of algae in freshwater or marine water systems and are one of the most common sources of thick seafoam.
Storm Gloria has left 200,000 people in the country without electricity, has closed down schools and blocked roads since Tuesday morning.
The storm has claimed the lives of at least four people since it hit on Sunday when the national weather agency Aemet declared a red alert in 10 provinces, El Pais reports.
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Mallorca, the largest island in the Balearic Islands, was hit hard as well. The hot tourism destination was smashed by huge waves that sent water careening down streets towards buildings in Cala Ratjada, one of the island’s beach towns.
Waves reaching heights of eight metres were spotted by port authorities in Valencia on Monday, where two died of hypothermia. A man in Spanish city Ávila died when roof tiles hit him in the head after being broken off a nearby home, Reuters reported.
Parts of eastern Spain experienced winds reaching a whopping 115 kilometres per hour earlier this week.
The storm also hit parts of southern France on Tuesday, and heavy rains are expected to pummel Catalonia on Wednesday.
—With files from Reuters and Associated Press.
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