At least 64 people have died in eastern Spain following devastating flash floods that swept away cars, transformed village streets into rivers, and disrupted rail lines and highways, marking one of the worst natural disasters the country has experienced in recent memory.
Emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia confirmed a death toll of 62 people on Wednesday. Another two casualties were reported in the neighboring Castilla La Mancha region.
Rainstorms on Tuesday caused widespread flooding across southern and eastern Spain, stretching from Malaga to Valencia. Mud-colored waters sent vehicles tumbling down streets at high speeds, while debris swirled in the floodwaters.
Police and rescue services used helicopters to airlift people from their homes and rubber boats to reach drivers stranded on car rooftops.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that dozens of towns had been flooded and warned that the danger is not over.
“For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain,” Sánchez said in a televised address.
“Our priority is to help you. We are putting all the resources necessary so that we can recover from this tragedy.”
Authorities reported several missing persons late Tuesday, but the following morning brought the shocking announcement of dozens found dead.
“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Ricardo Gabaldón, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE.
He noted that several people were still missing in his town.
“We were trapped like rats. Cars and trash containers were flowing down the streets. The water was rising to 3 meters (9.8 feet),” he recounted.
Over 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response units have been deployed to the affected areas, with rescue services rushing in from other regions.
The central government set up a crisis committee to coordinate rescue efforts. One elderly couple was rescued from the upper story of their house by a military unit using a bulldozer, accompanied by three soldiers in the machine's scoop.
Television reports showed videos from panicked residents documenting water flooding the ground floors of apartment buildings, streams bursting their banks, and bridges collapsing.
Spain’s national weather service described the rainfall as “extraordinary,” with 491 liters per square meter (108 gallons per 32.3 square feet) accumulated in just eight hours in the Valencian locality of Chiva.
While Spain has experienced similar autumn storms in recent years, nothing compared to the devastation seen over the last two days, which recalls floods in Germany and Belgium in 2021 that killed 230 people.
The death toll is likely to rise, as other regions have yet to report victims and search efforts continue in areas with difficult access.
In the village of Letur in Castilla La Mancha, Mayor Sergio Marín Sánchez reported that six people were missing.
Spain is still recovering from a severe drought and continues to register record high temperatures in recent years.
Scientists link increased episodes of extreme weather to climate change. The prolonged drought has also hindered the land's ability to absorb large volumes of water.
The storms also unleashed a freak hailstorm which punched holes in car windows and greenhouses as well as a rarely seen tornado.
Transport services were affected, with a high-speed train carrying nearly 300 passengers derailing near Malaga, although no injuries were reported. High-speed train services between Valencia and Madrid, as well as commuter lines, were interrupted.
Valencian regional President Carlos Mazón urged residents to stay at home, as road travel was already challenging due to fallen trees and wrecked vehicles.
He noted that downed power lines had left many areas without electricity, complicating rescue efforts. The regional emergency service received around 30,000 calls for assistance.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels that the EU will assist by using its Copernicus geo-monitoring satellite system “to help coordinate the rescue teams.”
The European Union leader said that the bloc stands ready to activate a civil protection mechanism offering the combined assistance of the other 26 member countries should Spain request assistance.
“Europe is ready to help,” Von der Leyen said.
As waters receded, thick layers of mud mixed with debris rendered streets unrecognizable.
“The neighborhood is destroyed, all the cars are on top of each other, it’s literally smashed up,” Christian Viena, a bar owner in the Valencian village of Barrio de la Torre, said by phone. “Everything is a total wreck, everything is ready to be thrown away. The mud is almost 30 centimeters (11 inches) deep.”
Outside Viena’s bar, residents began salvaging what they could.
Cars were piled up and the streets were filled with clumps of water-logged branches.
Relatives of the missing turned to social media and local media outlets, pleading for information on their loved ones.
Leonardo Enrique told RTVE that his family had been searching for hours for his son, Leonardo Enrique Rivera, 40, who was driving a delivery van when it began to rain. His son had sent a message saying his van was flooding and that he had been hit by another vehicle when he was near Ribarroja, an industrial town which is one of the worst affected, Enrique said.
Located south of Barcelona down the Mediterranean coast, Valencia is a tourist destination known for its beaches, citrus orchards, and as the home of Spain’s paella rice dish.
Like many areas in Spain, Valencia features gorges and small riverbeds that are often dry but can quickly fill with water during rain.
By late Wednesday morning, the rain had subsided in Valencia as the storm moved north, prompting authorities in the Barcelona region to issue weather alerts.
(Source: AP)
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