Videos capture the moment freak weather caused chaos on the beaches of Spain's Costa Tropical forcing them to be evacuated

The Costa Tropical in Spain's Granada province was enjoying an ordinary Sunday afternoon in mid-August, with the beaches full of thousands of bathers and the sea as smooth as glass, when suddenly, at about eight o'clock in the evening, a thermal blowout, with warm "hurricane-force" winds that lasted for about fifteen minutes, according to witnesses, hit the coastline causing confusion, chaos and a major scare on the beaches, which had to be evacuated.

The freak weather episode was accompanied by two tornadoes and a sea swell, as confirmed by the companies providing lifeguard services on the beaches of Motril, which rescued numerous bathers and evacuated thousands of people from the beaches in barely twenty minutes. At this point, the lifeguard services were overwhelmed. Flying beach umbrellas, paddle surf boarders who could not return to the shore, parents running to rescue their children in the water or boats having difficulty reaching the coast were some of the scenes that took place on beaches that were deserted in just twenty minutes. The coastal municipalities ordered their lifeguard services and even the Local Police to clear the beaches and the 112 emergency services received a dozen requests for help from people in distress.

The "hurricane-force" gusts mercilessly lashed the coastline of the Costa Tropical, accompanied by tornadoes and sea sleeves, according to some witnesses who were surprised by the sudden and radical change in the weather.

According to the mayor of Motril, Luisa María García Chamorro, who recommended the population, via social media networks, not to go outdoors, as did the mayor of Almuñécar, Juan José Ruiz Joya, who said the economic damage will be considerable. "The coast has suffered a dry storm or thermal burst that comes with high temperatures, strong winds and a very stormy atmosphere, so it is necessary to be very cautious, protect yourself from open areas and sand and do not go out while it lasts," said Ruiz Joya during the episode.

"It was a big scare, but fortunately there were no injuries. In the Mar de Fabiola, in Playa Granada, a swimming pool of a building under construction has blown down to the golf course," said the mayor, shocked by a phenomenon to which she has not yet been able to give an exact name. "It seems to be a thermal burst that occurs when a layer of air descends, heats up and produces strong winds. The first assessment is that there are many fallen trees and branches, but fortunately we have no human injuries to report," she said.

Spain's Salvamento Marítimo maritime rescue service informed the mayor that, after the freak weather phenomenon, a helicopter carried out a sweep from the air along the entire coast, from Almuñécar to Albuñol, to check that no boats or bathers were in danger.

One of the biggest scares of the afternoon was in Torrenueva where the wind caught two children on a paddle surf board, causing their family to panic. Fortunately, according to mayor Plácido Lara, they were rescued.

"There were two mini tornadoes and a marine sleeve, as we have been told by the head of the maritime rescue service, it has been very surprising because the sea was spectacular. It entered Torrenueva through the fairgrounds, raising tents and causing damage, and then continued on to Carchuna," said Lara.

Also in Calahonda, the company that provides the lifeguard service, Operación 2005, rescued bathers in record time. "We had to rescue two people who were in danger of drowning, they were being carried away by the wind and could not get out of the swirling water, one was a six-year-old boy and the other a young man. It lasted only 15 minutes but it was chaotic, it was like fire, the sand was rising, the umbrellas were blowing away? Fortunately there have been no personal injuries," said the spokesperson for the lifeguard service, Alicia Alonso, who highlighted the cooperation of all bathers and boats in the area, which helped to get people out of the water.