Alerts issued in the Barcelona area as the same storm system that caused devastating flooding in Valencia hovers over Spain.

Recurring storms in eastern Spain, which led to massive flooding last week and killed at least 217 people, mostly near Valencia, dumped rain on Barcelona, ​​prompting authorities to suspend commuter rail service.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said Monday he was suspending all commuter trains in northeastern Catalonia, a region of 8 million people, at the request of civil protection officials.

Authorities in Barcelona warned of “extreme and continuous rain” on the southern edge of the city, urging people to avoid the normally dry canals or canals.

Puente said the rains forced air traffic controllers to change the course of 15 flights operating at Barcelona airport, located on the southern flank of the city. Several highways were also closed.

Classes were canceled in Tarragona, a city in southern Catalonia halfway between Barcelona and Valencia, after a red alert was issued for rain.

Meanwhile, in Valencia, searches continued for bodies inside homes and thousands of wrecked cars scattered on streets, highways and canals that channeled last week’s floods into populated areas.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said authorities could not yet provide a reliable estimate of the number of missing persons. Spanish national broadcaster RTVE broadcast pleas for help from several desperate people whose loved ones cannot be found.

In the municipality of Aldaia, about 50 soldiers, police and firefighters, some wearing wetsuits, searched the underground parking lot of a huge shopping center for potential victims. Police spokesman Ricardo Gutierrez told reporters that so far about 50 vehicles have been found and no bodies have been discovered there.

Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego said some districts in Valencia received about 20 months’ worth of rainfall in about eight hours. She said residents in many places were forced to clean the streets themselves.

“You see today (Monday) more presence of civil guards, of military personnel, helping with this,” she said from Chiva, a city west of Valencia. “But really, when I was here a few days ago, I saw that most of the work is done by the community itself.”

The army sent about 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clean the streets and guard against looting. Another 2,500 will join them, Defense Minister Margarita Robles said on state broadcaster RNE on Monday.

Locals criticized late warnings from authorities about the dangers of the storm and a perceived delayed response from emergency services.

On Sunday, some residents of Paiporta hurled mud and insults at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, chanting: “Murderers, murderers!” Some people protesting against Sanchez wore clothes with the symbols of far-right organizations.

Climate scientists and meteorologists said the immediate cause of the flooding was a low-pressure storm system that migrated from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream, likely fed by a record-breaking Mediterranean Sea. This system simply parked over the region and triggered a deluge.