What you need to know about the floods in Spain that have killed more than 200 people

VALENCIA, Spain. In a matter of minutes, a flash flood caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain swept away almost everything in its path. Before they could react, people were trapped in cars, houses and businesses. Many died, thousands of people lost their means of livelihood.

Six days later, authorities found 217 bodies, 213 of them in the eastern region of Valencia. On Monday, they continued the search for an unknown number of missing people with the help of about 5,000 new soldiers who arrived over the weekend.

An angry mob in the stricken Payport threw mud and other objects at members of the Spanish royal familyPrime Minister Pedro Sánchez and regional officials as the leaders made their first visit to the epicenter of the flood damage on Sunday.

More rain is forecast in disaster areas, as well as the Mediterranean coast, where a red alert has been declared in parts of Catalonia around the city of Tarragona.

The Spanish Navy transport ship Galicia arrived in the port of Valencia on Monday with 100 marines, helicopters and trucks loaded with food and water to help with the relief effort.

Thousands of volunteers helped clear the thick layers of mud and debris that still covered houses, streets and roads, all while facing disruptions to drinking water and shortages of some basic goods. Some cars that were washed away or trapped in underground garages still contained bodies awaiting identification.

Here are a few things to know about Spain’s worst storm on record:

What happened

The storms concentrated over the Magro and Turia basins, and in the Poyo riverbed, walls of water burst their banks, catching people off guard as they went about their daily lives Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

In the blink of an eyemuddy water covered roads and railways, and entered homes and businesses in towns and villages on the southern outskirts of the city of Valencia. Drivers had to hide on the roofs of cars, and residents had to hide at heights.

Spain’s National Meteorological Service reported that the hard-hit region of Chiva received more rain in eight hours than in the previous 20 months. calling the flood “extraordinary”. In other areas on the southern outskirts of the city of Valencia, there was no rain before erased by the wall of water that overflowed the drainage channels.

When the authorities sent notifications on mobile phones warning of the severity of the flooding and asking people to stay at home, many were already on the road, working or covered in water in low-lying areas or underground garages, which have become death traps.

Why did these large-scale flash floods occur?

Scientists trying to explain what happened see two possible connections with climate change caused by human activity. First, warmer air holds and then sheds more rain. Another is possible changes in the jet stream—the river of air above the ground that moves weather systems around the globe—that creates extreme weather.

Climatologists and meteorologists said the immediate cause of the flooding was a low-pressure storm system that moved from an extremely wavy and stalled jet stream. But the system was just standing over the region and pouring rain. This happens often enough that in Spain they are called DANA, the Spanish abbreviation for the system, meteorologists say.

In addition, there is the unusually high temperature of the Mediterranean Sea. Mid-August saw the highest surface temperature on record at 28.47 degrees Celsius (83.25 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Carola Koenig of Brunel University London’s Flood Risk and Resilience Centre.

The extreme weather comes after Spain struggled with prolonged droughts in 2022 and 2023. Experts say that drought and flood cycles are increasing with climate change.

Has this happened before?

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this episode was the worst flash flood in recent memory.

Elderly people in Pyport, at the epicenter of the tragedy, said Tuesday’s flooding was three times worse than the 1957 flood, which killed at least 81 people. This episode led to the diversion of the Turia River, which meant that a large part of the city was saved from these floods.

In the 1980s, Valencia experienced two more major DANAs: one in 1982 that claimed around 30 lives, and another five years later that broke rainfall records.

The flash floods also exceeded a flood that washed away a campsite along the Gallego River in Biescas in the northeast, killing 87 people in August 1996.

What was the state’s response?

Crisis management, classified by the Valencian government as level two on a three-point scale, is in the hands of regional authorities, who can turn to the central government for help in mobilizing resources.

About 7,500 soldiers, trucks, heavy road equipment and Chinook helicopters were deployed in addition to nearly 10,000 additional police from the National Police and Civil Guard to help with the search for bodies, clean up thousands of wrecked cars and distribute aid.

When many victims said they felt abandoned by the authorities, a wave of volunteers came to help. With brooms, shovels, water and basic food, hundreds of people walked several kilometers to deliver supplies and help clean up the worst-hit areas.

On Tuesday, the Sánchez government will approve a declaration of natural disaster, which will allow quick access to financial aid. Mazon announced additional economic aid.

Valencia’s regional government has come under heavy criticism for not sending a flood warning to mobile phones until 8pm on Tuesday, when flooding had already begun in some places and well after the national meteorological agency had issued a red warning for heavy rain.