At least 95 people have died as a result of flash floods in Spain

JOSEPH WILSON and TERESA MEDRANO

UTIEL, Spain (AP) — Flash floods in Spain turned rural streets into rivers, destroyed homes, disrupted transportation and killed at least 95 people in the worst natural disaster to hit the European country in recent memory.

The downpours that started on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday caused flooding in southern and eastern Spain, from Malaga to Valencia. Cloudy torrents vehicles fell down the streets at high speed, and garbage and household items were swirling in the water. Police and emergency services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and rubber boats to reach drivers stuck in their cars.

Emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia confirmed Wednesday’s death toll at 92. Two more victims were reported in the neighboring region of Castile-La Mancha, while one death was reported in southern Andalusia.

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Ricardo Gabaldón, mayor of Utiel in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday. According to him, six residents died, and even more are considered missing.

“We fell into a trap like rats. Cars and garbage containers flowed through the streets. The water rose up to 3 meters (9.8 feet),” he said.

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Residents look at cars piled up after they were swept away by flooding in Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

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The Spanish government has declared three days of mourning starting Thursday.

“For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised address.

Rescuers and more than 1,100 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response units were dispatched to the affected areas. Spain’s central government has set up a crisis committee to coordinate rescue efforts.

Javier Berenger, 63, fled his bakery in Utila when the water threatened to overwhelm him. He said it rose 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) inside his business and he feared his livelihood had been destroyed.

“I had to get out of the window as best I could because the water was already up to my shoulders. I took shelter on the first floor with neighbors and stayed there all night,” Berenger told the Associated Press. “It took everything away. I have to throw everything out of the bakery, freezers, ovens, everything.”

Maria Carmen Martinez, another resident of Utiel, witnessed the terrifying rescue.

“It was terrible, terrible. There was a man who was clinging to the fence that was falling and calling people for help,” she said. “They couldn’t help him until the helicopters came and took him away.”

One city in Valencia, Paiporta, suffered exceptional losses. Mayor Maribel Albalat told RTVE that more than 30 people had died in the city of about 25,000. Among them are six residents of a home for the elderly. Media broadcast footage of elderly people in chairs and wheelchairs at a Pyport nursing home, some screaming in apparent terror as water rose above their knees.

“We don’t know what happened, but after 10 minutes the village was filled with water,” said Albalat.

Spain’s National Meteorological Service said more rain fell in Valencia in eight hours than in the previous 20 months, calling the deluge “extraordinary”.

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

As the flood receded, thick layers of mud mixed with debris made some streets unrecognizable.

“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 mud is almost 30 centimeters (11 inches) deep.

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.

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 have yet to report casualties and search operations in hard-to-reach areas continue.

“We are facing a very difficult situation,” said Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Victor Torres. “The fact that we cannot name the number of missing people shows the scale of the tragedy.”

Spain is still recovering from a severe and record drought high temperatures in recent years. Scientists say that episodes of extreme weather are becoming more frequent probably related to climate change. Due to the prolonged drought of the land, it is more difficult to absorb large amounts of water.

The storms also produced a rare tornado and severe hail that blew holes in car windows and greenhouses.

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 the city of Valencia and Madrid was disrupted, and the transport ministry said it could take up to four days to restore high-speed service to the capital due to damage to the line. Bus and suburban services were also interrupted. Many flights were canceled on Tuesday evening, leaving around 1,500 people stranded at Valencia airport overnight. Flights resumed on Wednesday.

Football matches involving Valencia and Levante have been cancelled and Barcelona and Madrid players observed a minute’s silence for flood victims before training on Wednesday.

Valencia regional president Carlos Mason urged people to stay at home, saying road travel was difficult due to fallen trees and wrecked cars. Rescue efforts were hampered by downed power lines and power outages, and regional emergency services responded to about 30,000 calls, Mazon said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels that the EU would “help coordinate rescue teams” using the Copernicus geomonitoring satellite system.

Some residents asked to report their missing loved ones through social networks, television and radio.

Leonardo Enrique told RTVE that his family spent hours searching for his 40-year-old son, Leonardo Enrique Rivera, who was driving the van when the rain started. His son texted that his van had flooded and that he had been hit by another vehicle near Ribarroch, an industrial town that is one of the hardest hit, Enrique said.

Medrano reported from Madrid. Associated Press reporter Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

Originally published: October 30, 2024 at 11:40 am EDT