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Floods in Spain have left at least 158 dead

Online Niel November 1, 2024

By ALBERTO SAIZ, JOSEPH WILSON and ALICIA LEÓN

BARRIO DE LA TORRE, Spain (AP) — Crews searched Thursday for bodies in stuck cars and waterlogged buildings as residents salvaged what they could from their ruined homes after monstrous flash floods in Spain, which has resulted in at least 158 deaths, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone.

More horrors emerged Thursday from the debris and ubiquitous layers of mud left by walls of water that produced Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory. The damage was reminiscent of the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces while mourning their loved ones.

Cars were piled on top of each other like fallen dominoes, uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items all mired in mud covering the streets in dozens of communities in Valencia, a region south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast.

An unknown number of people are still missing and more victims may be found.

“Unfortunately, there are dead people in some vehicles,” Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said on Thursday morning, before the death toll rose from 95 on Wednesday night.

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A man cleans his flood-damaged home in Utiel, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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Running water turned the narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that tore through homes and businesses, sweeping away cars, people and anything else in their path. The floods demolished bridges and left roads unrecognizable.

Luís Sánchez, a welder, said he rescued several people who were stuck in their cars on the flooded V-31 highway south of the city of Valencia. The road quickly became a floating graveyard littered with hundreds of vehicles.

“I saw bodies floating by. I called, but nothing,” Sánchez said. “The firemen took the old people first, when they could enter. I’m from nearby so I tried to help and save people. People were crying everywhere, they were trapped.”

Regional authorities said late Wednesday that helicopter rescuers had rescued about 70 people trapped on rooftops and in cars, but ground crews were far from finished.

“We are searching house by house,” Ángel Martínez, one of 1,000 soldiers helping the rescue effort, told Spanish national radio RNE in the town of Utiel, where at least six people have died.

An Associated Press journalist saw rescuers remove seven body bags from an underground garage in Barrio de la Torre.

“Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so we can help end the suffering of their families,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said after meeting officials and emergency services in Valencia on Thursday, the first of three official days of mourning

An “extraordinary” flood.

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the strongest flash flood in recent memory. Scientists link it to climate changewhich is also behind the increasingly high temperatures and droughts in Spain and warming of the Mediterranean Sea.

Human-caused climate change has doubled the likelihood of a storm like this week’s deluge in Valencia, according to a quick report, but partial analysis Thursday by World Weather Attribution, featuring dozens of international scientists studying the role of global warming in extreme weather.

Spain has been in a drought for nearly two years, meaning that when the deluge occurred late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the ground was so hard it couldn’t absorb the rain, leading to flash floods.

The violent weather event surprised regional government officials. Spain’s national meteorological service said more rain fell in eight hours in the Valencian city of Chiva than in the last 20 months.

A man wept as he showed a reporter from national broadcaster RTVE the shell of what was once the ground floor of his house in Catarroja, south of Valencia. It looked as if a bomb had gone off inside, wiping out furniture and belongings and stripping paint from some walls.

In Paiporta, Mayor Maribel Albalat said Thursday that at least 62 people had died in the community of 25,000 near the city of Valencia.

“(Paiporta) never floods, we never have this kind of problem. And I found a lot of old people in the city center,” Albalat told RTVE. “There were also a lot of people coming to get their cars out of the garages … it was a real trap.”

Damaged farms

While the greatest suffering was inflicted on municipalities near the city of Valencia, the storms unleashed their fury on huge areas of the southern and eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Two deaths were confirmed in the neighboring region of Castilla La Mancha and one in southern Andalusia.

Greenhouses and farms in southern Spain, known as the garden of Europe for its exported produce, were also ruined by heavy rain and flooding. The storms spawned a freak tornado in Valencia and a hailstorm that ripped holes in cars in Andalusia. Homes were left without water as far south-west as Malaga in Andalusia.

Heavy rain continued further north on Thursday as the Spanish weather agency issued warnings for several counties in Castellón in the eastern Valencia region and Tarragona in Catalonia as well as southwest Cadiz.

“This storm front is still with us,” the prime minister said. “Stay at home and follow the official advice and you will help save lives.”

People pick up goods at a flood-hit supermarket in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Frustration sets in as residents hunt for basic supplies

As the shock wore off, anger grew over the authorities’ handling of the crisis, both for them late warnings of looming floods and the chaotic relief response.

Many survivors had to walk long distances in sticky mud to find food and water. Most of their cars were destroyed, and the mud, destruction and debris left by the storm made some roads impassable. Some pushed shopping carts along the wet streets, while others carried their children to keep them out of the mud.

About 150,000 people in Valencia were without power on Wednesday, but about half had power by Thursday. An unknown number had no running water and were relying on whatever bottled water they could find.

The region remained partially isolated, with several roads closed and train lines disrupted, including the high-speed service to Madrid. Officials said it will take two to three weeks to repair that damaged line.

And with emergency personnel focused on recovering the dead, survivors were left to find basic supplies and clean up the mess. Volunteers joined local residents in moving wrecked vehicles, removing debris and sweeping away mud.

With local services clearly out of date, Valencia regional president Carlos Mazón asked on Thursday whether Spain’s military could help distribute basic goods to the population. The government in Madrid responded by promising to send 500 more soldiers, more national police and civil guards.

But necessity—and the post-apocalyptic atmosphere—has led some to enter the abandoned stores.

The National Police arrested 39 people for robbery on Wednesday. The Civil Guard said it had detained 11 people for shoplifting, while its officers were also deployed to stop people stealing from cars.

Some people said they had to steal supplies, especially those without running water or a way to reach stores that weren’t destroyed.

“We are not thieves. I work as a school cleaner for the council. But we have to eat. Look what I’m getting: baby food for the baby,” Nieves Vargas said in a local supermarket whose doors had been blown aside by water and was unattended by staff. “What can I give the child if we don’t have electricity.”

Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain, and Leon reported from Valencia. Teresa Medrano in Madrid and Seth Borenstein in Washington, DC contributed.

Originally published: October 31, 2024 at 11:20 a.m. EDT

Association-anemone

Association-anemone

Floods in Spain have left at least 158 dead

An “extraordinary” flood.

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Floods in Spain have left at least 158 dead