Recent floods in Spain: tragedy exposes ‘criminal negligence’; police fear that more bodies are hidden

From the dirty sacks, Isabel sorted through the only things she had left in the world.

Soiled clothing and broken furniture were among the remains left behind by the flood.

She took some nail polish.

“What a disaster,” she said.

A river near her home filled with water during Tuesday’s flash flood until it smashed the front door and burst through the wall.

The home of three generations of her family didn’t stand a chance.

“I didn’t manage to grab anything, not even a backpack with a laptop, clothes, nothing,” she said.

Her brother Angel showed us the wreckage.

The light was gone, as were the windows and some of the walls.

The loss is huge.

According to him, the water rose to the ceiling, and the level was constantly rising.

“There was so much water and it was coming with such force that it was terrifying. The noise she made was incredible,” Angel told me.

The flow was so fierce that it destroyed a nearby bridge.

The family got out alive only because they got to higher ground when the water started to rise; they did not wait for an official warning.

In the living room, Angela Amparo’s sister tried to find everything that could be saved.

The flood took away the house, along with the memories—precious reminders of Mom and Dad who are no longer here.

“There are things from mom,” she said through tears as she sorted through the broken dishes.

“I didn’t take them to my house where I live and I thought they were all lost, but at least some are there.”

In every room, friends and volunteers tried to clean up the mess, but the sense of loss and grief is overwhelming.

Isabelle and her family are now homeless, and they don’t know how long.

“I came to the house with my dogs and they wanted to come in, but we can’t go home,” she said.

This is one story of loss, a snapshot of grief in a country where millions are mourning.