Spain's death toll from floods has risen to 158, and several people are still missing
Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and barricaded buildings on Thursday as people tried to save what they could from their destroyed homes following torrential floods in Spain that have killed at least 158 people and killed 155 in the Valencia region.
More horrors emerged from the debris and mud strewn all over the place left by the walls of water that caused Spain's deadliest natural disaster.
Cars were piled up like fallen dominoes, downed trees, downed power lines and household items all littered the streets of several communities in Valencia. An unknown number of people are still missing and other victims may be found.
“Unfortunately, there are people who have died inside some cars,” said Spain's Transport Minister Oscar Puente.
The rushing water turned narrow roads into death loops and created rivers that swept through homes and businesses, sweeping away cars, people and everything else in their path. These floods destroyed the bridges and left the roads impassable.
Luís Sanchez, a journalist, watched as the storm turned the V-31 highway south of the city of Valencia into a floating graveyard filled with hundreds of cars.
“I saw the bodies floating. I shouted but nothing happened,” said Sanchez.
The days of mourning begin
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced after meeting with regional officials and emergency workers in Valencia on Thursday the first day of three days of mourning.
Spain's Mediterranean coast is used to raining autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the strongest flash flood event in recent memory. Scientists link it to climate change, which is also responsible for high temperatures and droughts in Spain and the warming of the Mediterranean Sea.
The largest population is concentrated in Paiporta, a community of 25,000 people near the city of Valencia where mayor Maribel Albalat said on Thursday that 62 people had died.
Although the most suffering was caused by municipalities near the city of Valencia, the storms unleashed their fury on large areas along the southern and eastern coasts of the Iberian peninsula.
Two people were reported dead in the neighboring region of Castilla La Mancha and one in southern Andalusia. Emilion García-Page, president of the Castilla La Mancha region, said at least one police officer was among the many missing in the town of Letur.
Heavy rains continued on Thursday in the north as Spain's weather agency issued a red alert for several regions in Castellon, the eastern region of Valencia, and Tarragona in Catalonia.
More than 1,000 soldiers from Spain's emergency rescue centers joined regional and local emergency services in the search for bodies and survivors. The soldiers had removed 22 bodies and rescued 110 people on Wednesday night.
“We are searching house by house,” Angel Martínez, with the military's emergency unit, told Spanish national radio broadcaster RNE in the town of Utiel, where at least six people died.
Late emergency warnings have been identified
About 150,000 people in Valencia were without electricity on Wednesday, but about half had power on Thursday, Spanish news agency EFE reported.
The Valencia regional government is criticized by some for not sending flood warnings to people's mobile phones until 8:00 on Tuesday, when flooding has already started in some parts and after the national weather agency issued a red warning for heavy rains.
As It Happened7:05Spanish resident says deadly floods have turned his town into a 'disaster movie'
About 95 people have died in Spain following the floods. Marc Brimble lives in the town of Catarroja which was hit hard. In an interview with As It Happens broadcaster Nil Köksal, he describes residents trapped in their homes, cars stacked on top of each other, and water up to two meters high.
Mari Carmen Perez said by phone from Barrio de la Torre, a suburb of Valencia, that her phone was ringing with a flood warning after rushing water had already forced open the front door and filled the first floor, forcing her family to flee upstairs.
“They didn't know anything about what was going on,” said Perez, the cleaner. “Everything is ruined. The people here have never seen anything like this.”
This chaos also caused some to smash and take goods. The National Police arrested 39 people on Wednesday for looting shops in areas affected by the storms. The Civil Guard has tasked officials to stop the looting of homes, cars and malls.
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