MADRID (AP) — Catastrophic torrential rains that overflowed normally dry rivers and canals in eastern Spain last week triggered flash floods that submerged entire communities and killed dozens of people.

The flood left behind a landscape of devastation, especially in Valenciathe most affected region. The search for the dead and missing continues, more than a week after the October 29 floods – as well as a huge cleanup and recovery effort.

Here’s a look at Spain’s deadliest natural disaster of the century by the numbers:

At least 219 people have died and 93 are missing

The historic floods caused 219 deaths, 211 of them in the Valencia region alone. Another seven people died in nearby Castilla La Mancha and one more in southern Andalusia.

Ninety-three people have been officially declared missing, but authorities admit the actual number could be higher. Another 54 bodies remain unidentified. In total, 36,605 people were rescued, according to the authorities.

The cost of the damage is in the billions

The full extent of the damage is unknown, but the Spanish Insurance Compensation Consortium, a public-private entity that pays insurance claims for extreme risks such as flooding, estimates it will spend at least 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion). in compensation.

The consortium received 116,000 insurance claims for flood damage, with 60% of the claims for cars and 31% for homes. The Association of Insurance Companies of Spain anticipates that the floods will break an all-time record for payouts.

The Ministry of Transport has so far repaired 232 kilometers (144 miles) of road and rail, but the high-speed train line between Valencia and Madrid is still being demolished.

The central government approved a 10.6 billion euro ($11.6 billion) aid package for families, businesses and municipalities. The regional government of Valencia is asking Madrid for aid of 31 billion euros ($33 billion).

Record rains triggered the disaster

The drought that has hit the country for the past two years and is recording scorching temperatures helped amplify the floodssay the scientists.

Spain’s meteorological agency says 30.4 inches fell in an hour in the city of Valencia Turis, an all-time national rainfall record set on October 29. Chiva village it also received more rain in eight hours than the city had experienced in the previous 20 months.

The storms focused on the Magro and Turia rivers and the Poyo channel, turning them into rapids that swept away everything in their path. To the human eye, it looked as if a tsunami-like wave of water and mud had cut a swath through the southern outskirts of Valencia.

The European Space Agency said that according to satellite images captured on October 31, the water covers an area of ​​15,633 hectares (38,600 acres). About 190,000 people were directly affected, the agency said.

In total, 78 municipalities had at least one resident die as a result of the floods.

Over 17,000 military and police and an army of volunteers

The emergency operation mobilized by the central authorities has grown to more than 17,000 soldiers and police.

The operation includes 8,000 soldiers – 2,100 of whom belong to emergency military units specialized in disaster response – along with 9,200 additional police officers from other parts of Spain.

Thousands of ordinary citizens volunteered, without an exact estimate of how many, to help with the cleanup effort from day one.

The government said that in the first week after the floods, authorities restored electricity to 147,000 homes and distributed about 178,000 bottles of water to places still without drinking water.

What we still don’t know

Spanish authorities have yet to say how many missing-person calls they have received, provide an estimate of property damage or release a calculation of how much land has been devastated.

And at this point, no one can guess when the recovery effort will end.

___ Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, ​​Spain, contributed to this report.