CHIVA, Spain. — Number of deaths from historic flash floods in Spain it rose to at least 205 people on Friday, with many more reported missing as initial shock gave way to anger, frustration and an outpouring of solidarity.

Spanish emergency authorities said 202 of the victims were in the eastern region of Valencia, and officials warned more rain was expected in the coming days.

The damage from the storm on Tuesday and Wednesday was reminiscent of the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces as they mourn loved ones lost in Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory. Many streets were still blocked piled vehicles and debrisin some cases trapping residents in their homes. Some places still do not have electricity, running water or stable telephone connections.

“The situation is unbelievable. It’s a disaster and there’s very little help,” said Emilio Cuartero, in Masanasa, on the outskirts of Valencia. “We need machines, cranes, so that the construction sites can be accessed. We need a lot of help. And bread and water.”

In Khiva, residents were cleaning debris from the muddy streets. The city of Valencia received more rain in eight hours Tuesday than it has done in the last 20 months, and the water overflowed a gully that runs through the city, destroying roads and houses.

The mayor, Amparo Fort, told RNE radio that “whole houses have disappeared, we don’t know if there were people inside or not.”

So far, 205 bodies have been recovered – 202 in Valencia, two in neighboring Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia in the south. Members of the security forces and 1,700 soldiers from the emergency unit are SEEKING for an unknown number of missing persons. Officials fear more bodies could be found in wrecked vehicles and flooded garages.

The Civil Guard rescued more than 4,500 people caught in the floods, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told a news conference in Valencia.

The regional authorities, which are in charge of the response to the tragedy, have asked the central government to mobilize an additional 500 soldiers, who will be deployed on Saturday.

“I’ve been there all my life, all my memories are there, my parents lived there … and now, in one night, everything is gone,” Chiva resident Juan Vicente Pérez told The Associated Press near the place where he lost his house. “If we had waited another five minutes, we wouldn’t be here in this world.”

Before-and-after satellite images of the city of Valencia illustrated the extent of the catastrophe, showing the transformation of the Mediterranean metropolis into a landscape flooded with muddy waters. Highway V-33 was completely covered in a thick, brown layer of mud.

The tragedy sparked a wave of solidarity across the country. Throughout the morning, hundreds of residents reached the worst-hit areas on foot, carrying water, essentials, shovels and brooms to help clear the mud. The number of people coming to help is so high that authorities have asked them not to drive or walk there, as they block roads needed by emergency services.

“It is very important to return home,” said regional president Carlos Mazón, who thanked the volunteers for their kindness.

Apart from voluntary contributions, local authorities have started distributing water, food and basic products in schools, town halls and sports venues.

The Red Cross used its vast aid network to help those affected by the floods. Since Tuesday, it has carried out more than 3,500 interventions, half of them in 13 of the shelters set up by the authorities, to distribute food, blankets and hygiene products and to ensure access to the Internet.

“There will be quite serious consequences. The people who were already vulnerable will be even more and we will find new needs because they are people who have lost their livelihoods,’ said Ana Gómez, spokeswoman for the Red Cross in Valencia.

And more storms are expected. The skies in Valencia were partly sunny on Friday, but the Spanish weather agency issued alerts for heavy rain in the region, as well as on the coast of Huelva, Andalusia; Tarragona, in Catalonia; and part of the Balearic Islands.

The storm knocked out power and water service Tuesday night, but about 85 percent of the 155,000 affected customers had power restored by Friday, the company said in a statement.

“This is a disaster. There are a lot of old people who don’t have medicine. There are children who don’t have food. We have no milk, we have no water. We don’t have access to anything,” a resident of Alfafar, one of the worst-hit towns in southern Valencia, told state broadcaster TVE. “No one even came to warn us on the first day.”