At least 95 people were killed and others missing after devastating flash floods hit eastern Spain, local authorities said, making it one of the worst natural disasters to hit the country in recent years.
The devastating floods, caused by relentless deluge that began on Monday, swept away cars, submerged homes and caused power outages across eastern Spain. Rescuers waded through neck-high water to reach some residents.
“It was the worst moment of my life,” said Nuria Morio, 51, who was driving home from Valencia with her father, 84, from a nearby village when their car filled with water.
Civilian protection workers had to use ropes to pull the father out of the car to prevent him from being swept away by the thick muddy waters. Like many others, the family is currently sleeping in a shelter in Valencia after floods destroyed bridges and roads leading to their hometown.
Spain’s weather service said on Wednesday that nearly a year’s worth of rain fell for eight hours in the eastern Valencia town of Chiba, underscoring the ferocity of the storm. Other parts of the south and east received more than a month’s worth of rain in less than 24 hours.
The severity of the disaster became clearer on Wednesday when local authorities confirmed that most of the dead were in the Valencia region, where the storm hit cities, villages and towns along the mountainous coastline.
Another person was killed in the neighboring province of Castile-La Mancha, and at least five people were reported missing in the city of Albacete, local officials said. It was Spain’s worst flood disaster since 1996, when floods in the Pyrenees washed away a campsite and killed more than 80 people.
More people are missing, but Valencian authorities said they could not give an exact number. It added that a telephone line had been set up to report missing persons and residents were urged not to travel in the area. Officials say the death toll is expected to rise further.
Flooding also occurred in southern Spain’s Andalusia region, including the cities of Seville and Malaga. According to Spain’s weather service, the region received four times the amount of rain that is typical for October in one day.
More than 1,000 soldiers from emergency response teams were deployed to respond to the disaster, officials said, with videos shared showing some people being airlifted from flooded areas by helicopter or waiting on rooftops.
“It was a disaster,” Enrique Platero, a resident of Utiel near Valencia, told Spanish broadcaster RTVE. He said there was no warning of the dangers of the storm. “It surprised us,” he said during the interview, turning away with tears in his eyes.
Footage released by the Civil Guard showed large areas almost completely submerged under water and dozens of cars piled up in the aftermath of the floods.
Some buildings were reduced to water-soaked rubble.
Rescue teams are having trouble reaching some areas because of damaged roads and bridges, officials said Wednesday. Some towns remained cut off by the storm, and local officials described a dire situation as the death toll rose. There was also growing concern about the status of the missing persons.
“At the moment we have a very pessimistic outlook regarding the missing persons, but of course we remain hopeful,” Emiliano García-Page, the head of the Castilla-La Mancha region, told reporters on Wednesday. he said.
“The town of Paiporta is cut off. Nothing works,” Maribel Alvarat, the mayor of Paiporta, where dozens of people were killed, told local newspaper Actuatidad Valencia. “People are organizing, but they’re not communicating.”
Flooding in the valley and strong winds also damaged communications and power infrastructure in the area. Valencian energy provider Iberdrola said about 155,000 customers were without power, adding that its workers were facing difficulties restoring service.
“This is an extraordinary situation,” Utiel Mayor Ricardo Gabaldon told RTVE, adding that helicopters and boats were arriving at stranded residents throughout the afternoon. “The property damage is immeasurable, but what we’re worried about is the human damage.”
The highway leading to the region’s capital, Valencia, was strewn with debris and covered in mud, and the subway system was flooded, footage from local media showed. Local trains were suspended on Wednesday, and schools were closed in several places.
Spain’s parliament held a minute’s silence Wednesday in memory of the victims. In his speech, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged to help rebuild flood-hit areas. “Together we will rebuild our streets, plazas and bridges,” he said from Madrid. “All of Spain weeps with you,” he added.
The flood is not over yet. More rain is expected on Wednesday, with Spain’s weather service raising its emergency alert to the highest level for the Valencia region. A popular tourist destination, Valencia is also known as a major agricultural producer, where citrus fruits and other fruits and vegetables are grown.
The Valencia branch of ASAJA, one of the unions representing young farmers in the region, said it was too early to assess the economic impact of the floods on agriculture and livestock, but said it had planted thousands of hectares of citrus, persimmon, vegetables and vineyards. It is predicted that the following will be affected. There will be no crops this season.
The union said some regions were recording “historic water accumulations”, with the rush of water inland hurting thousands of grapes and other crops fresh from the driest year on record. is said to have been uprooted. Other farms near the coast were also flooded, the union said.
In Spain’s typical fall storms, local residents were shocked by the sheer amount of rain – more than 70 gallons per square yard in some villages. According to the Spanish Meteorological Service, more than 100 gallons of rain per square yard fell in the village of Chiba in eight hours, equivalent to an entire year’s worth of rain.
The agency added that about 40 gallons of rain per square yard is expected to fall in parts of Valencia, Andalusia and Murcia by 6pm local time on Wednesday. The storm is moving towards the north and northwest of Spain, with rain expected to continue until at least Thursday.
Floods are a complex phenomenon, and linking climate change to a single flood event requires extensive scientific analysis, but scientists say climate change is causing heavy rainfall in many storms. Masu. As the atmosphere warms, it retains and releases more moisture.
Meteorologists said the rain in Spain was most likely due to a sudden “drop in cold air” known in Spanish as “gota fria”. This happens when cold air moves over the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the hot, moist air at the surface quickly rises, creating giant rain clouds. Storm systems then push these water-rich clouds over land.
The Mediterranean Sea is also getting hotter, making such rains heavier and more frequent. Sea temperatures reached record highs in August.
Scientists have determined that the record rainfall that caused devastating floods in Belgium and Germany in the summer of 2021 is now much more likely to be caused by global warming.
Mark A. Walsh contributed reporting.
