At least 63 people have died in devastating floods in eastern Spain, officials say

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — At least 63 people have died in eastern Spain after flash floods swept away cars, turned village streets into rivers and disrupted rail lines and highways in the worst natural disaster to hit the European country in recent years.

Emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia confirmed Wednesday’s death toll at 62. The central government office of the Castilla-La Mancha region added that an 88-year-old woman was found dead in the city of Cuenca.

Tuesday’s rain caused flooding across a wide swath of southern and eastern Spain, stretching from Malaga to Valencia. Floods of muddy water tossed vehicles through the streets at high speeds, while pieces of wood swirled in the water along with household items. Police and emergency services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and rubber boats to reach drivers stuck on their roofs.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that dozens of cities were flooded.

“For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain,” Sanchez said in a televised address. “Our priority is to help you. We are deploying all necessary resources so that we can recover from this tragedy.”

Authorities reported several missing on Tuesday night, but the next morning there was a shocking report of dozens of dead bodies being found.

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Ricardo Gabaldón, mayor of Utiel in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE. According to him, several people are still missing in his city.

“We fell into a trap like rats. Cars and garbage containers flowed through the streets. The water rose up to three meters,” he said.

More than 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response units were sent to the devastated areas. Rescue services were also rushing east from other parts of Spain. Spain’s central government has set up a crisis committee to coordinate rescue efforts.

One elderly couple was rescued from the top floor of the house by a military unit with the help of a bulldozer, and they were accompanied by three soldiers on a huge shovel.

Television reports showed videos taken by panicked residents showing water flooding the first floors of apartments, streams overflowing their banks and bridges collapsing.

Spain survived similar autumn storms in recent years. However, nothing compared to the flood-like devastation of the last two days in Germany and Belgium in 2021, 230 people were killed.

The death toll is likely to rise as other regions are yet to report casualties and search operations continue in hard-to-reach areas.

In the village of Letur in the neighboring Castilla-La Mancha region, Mayor Sergio Marin Sánchez said six people were missing.

Spain is still recovering from a severe drought and continues to set records high temperatures in recent years. Scientists say that episodes of extreme weather are becoming more frequent probably related to climate change.

The storms produced ferocious hail that blew holes in car windows and greenhouses, as well as tornadoes that are rarely seen.

Transport was also affected. A high-speed train with nearly 300 people on board derailed near Malaga, although railway authorities said no one was injured. The high-speed train service between Valencia and Madrid was suspended, as were several suburban lines.

The regional president of Valencia, Carlos Mason, urged people to stay at home as road travel was already difficult due to fallen trees and wrecked cars. The authorities warn that the danger has not passed if new rains come.

When the water receded, thick layers of mud covered the streets.

“The area is destroyed, all the cars are on top of each other, it’s literally broken,” Cristian Viena, a bar owner in the Valencian village of Barrio de la Torre, said by phone. “Everything is full of ruins, everything is ready to be thrown away. The depth of the mud is almost 30 centimeters.”

Outside the Viena bar, people came out to see what could be salvaged. Cars were piled up and the streets were filled with piles of waterlogged branches.

Located south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast, Valencia is a tourist destination known for its beaches, citrus groves and the birthplace of the Spanish rice dish paella.

Like some other areas of Spain, Valencia has gorges and small riverbeds that are dry for most of the year but quickly fill with water when it rains. Many of them pass through populated areas.

The rain in Valencia subsided by late Wednesday morning. But according to Spain’s national meteorological service, more storms are forecast until Thursday.

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Associated Press reporter Teresa Medrano in Madrid contributed to this report.

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