Spain’s flood death toll rises to 205 as maps, satellite images show aftermath in Valencia and residents’ response to blast

Chiva, Spain — Number of dead from historical ones flash floods in Spain on Friday, the death toll rose to at least 205, with many still missing, as initial shock gave way to anger, frustration and a wave of solidarity. Spain’s emergency services said 202 victims were in the Valencia region alone, and officials warned more rain was expected in the coming days.

The damage from the storm on Tuesday and Wednesday resembled the aftermath of a tsunami, and survivors were left to pick up debris as they mourned loved ones killed in Spain’s worst natural disaster in living memory.

Many streets were still blocked by piles of vehicles and debris, and in some cases residents remained in their homes.

In some places, there is still no electricity, water or stable telephone connection.

“It’s a disaster and there’s very little help”

“The situation is unbelievable. It is a disaster and there is very little help,” said Emilio Cuartero, a resident of Masanasa, on the outskirts of Valencia. “We need equipment, cranes, to be able to drive up to the facilities. We really need help, both bread and water.”

On Friday, the residents of Chiva were busy clearing garbage from the mud-filled streets. On Tuesday, Valencia received more rain in eight hours than in the previous 20 months, and the water overflowed the ravine that cuts through the city, tearing apart roads and walls of houses.

The mayor of Amparo Fort told RNE radio that “whole houses have disappeared, we don’t know if there were people inside or not.”

So far, 205 bodies have been found: 202 in Valencia, two in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia. Security forces and soldiers are busy searching for an unknown number of missing people, many feared to be still trapped in wrecked cars or flooded garages.

“I spent my whole life there, all my memories are there, my parents lived there … and now overnight it’s all gone,” Chiva resident Juan Vicente Perez, near where he lost his home, told The Associated Press. “If we had waited another five minutes, we would not be here in this world.”

Maps show the extent of flooding in Spain, where more rain is forecast

Satellite images of the city of Valencia before and after illustrated the scale of the disaster, showing the transformation of the Mediterranean metropolis into a landscape flooded with muddy water. The V-33 track was completely covered with a thick layer of brown dirt.

Meanwhile, maps released by Spain’s National Meteorological Agency showed heavy rainfall in the worst-hit areas.

One image showed some areas west of the city of Valencia, including Chiva, which received more than 325 millimeters, or more than a foot, of rain on October 29 alone. Much of the Valencia region received 5 to 7 inches that same day.

As the authorities have repeatedly said, new storms are expected. The Spanish Meteorological Agency on Friday warned of heavy rain in Tarragona, Catalonia, as well as parts of the Balearic Islands and western Andalusia in the country’s southwest.

Residents blame the lack of help and lack of advance warning

The tragedy caused a wave of local solidarity. Residents of towns like Paiporta, where at least 62 people died, and Catarroja walked miles in sticky mud to Valencia for supplies, passing neighbors from unaffected areas who brought water, essentials and shovels or brooms to help clear the mud . . The number of people coming to help is so great that authorities have asked them not to go there because they are blocking roads needed by emergency services.

In addition to contributions from volunteers, associations such as the Red Cross and city councils distribute food.

Meanwhile, flood survivors and volunteers are doing a titanic job of cleaning up the ubiquitous layer of thick silt. The storm knocked out power and water Tuesday night, but about 85 percent of the 155,000 affected customers had power by Friday, the utility said in a statement.

“This is a disaster. Many elderly people who do not have medication. There are children who do not have food. We have no milk, we have no water. We have no access to anything. “, a resident of Alfafar, one of the hardest-hit towns in the south of Valencia, told state-run TVE. “On the first day, no one even came to warn us.”

Juan Ramon Adsuara, the mayor of Alfafar, said the aid was not enough for residents in an “extreme situation”.

“People live with corpses at home. It’s very sad. We organize ourselves, but we’re running out of things,” he told reporters. “We drive vans to Valencia, buy and come back, and here we are completely forgotten.”

The rushing water turned narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that tore through homes and businesses, leaving many uninhabitable.

Some shops were looted and the authorities arrested 50 people.

Social networks drew attention to the needs of the victims. Some have posted images of missing people in the hope of getting information about their whereabouts, while others have launched initiatives such as Suport Mutu, or Mutual Support, which matches requests for help with people who offer it. Others organized collections of essential goods across the country or launched fundraisers.

The role of climate change in flooding in Spain

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the worst flash flood in recent memory. Scientists associate it with climate changewhich is also the cause of increasingly high temperatures and drought in Spain and the heating of the Mediterranean Sea.

According to a partial analysis published Thursday by World Weather Attribution, a group of dozens of international scientists who study human-induced climate change, the chance of a storm like this week’s deluge in Valencia doubles. the role of global warming in extreme weather conditions.

Spain suffered from a nearly two-year drought, which made the flooding worse because the dry ground was so hard that it could not absorb the rain.

In August 1996, a flood swept away a campsite along the Gallego River in Biescas in the northeast, killing 87 people.