The flood in Spain: the search for survivors continues

The civil protection agency controlled by the regional government issued an emergency alert to the phones of people in and around the city of Valencia after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday as the floodwaters flashed rapidly. is growing in many areas and in some cases is already wreaking havoc.

Questions remain about warning times and whether Spain has an adequate disaster warning system.

Mireia, who lives not far from the devastation in Valencia, said people were “not prepared at all”.

“A lot of people were inside their cars, they couldn’t get out,” she said. – They were simply drowned by water.

Thousands of volunteers are currently helping the Spanish military and emergency services in the rescue and clean-up operation, and Valencia regional president Carlos Mason said more troops would be deployed.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez thanked the volunteers on social media, calling them “an example of the solidarity and boundless commitment of Spanish society.”

He promised that his government would do everything possible to help those affected by the disaster.

In the devastated city of Paiport, where more than 60 deaths have been reported so far, residents have expressed their frustration that help has been slow to arrive.

“There aren’t enough firefighters, the shovels haven’t arrived,” Paco Clemente, a 33-year-old pharmacist, told AFP as he helped clean up a friend’s house.

Dozens of people were arrested for looting, and one Aldaiya resident told AFP he saw thieves stealing goods from an abandoned supermarket because “people are a bit desperate”.