Latest Valencia Spain floods: More than 200 dead in Valencia floods due to torrential rain in another region of Spain

Andrew Harding
Report from Valencia

The death toll now stands at 158, but officials say dozens more are missing.

So it’s a combination of rescue work — maybe people are still looking for the survivors, but especially the dead — and the gruesome task of cleaning up the mess that’s smeared everything. It is also a task to support the families who have lost so much due to the torrential rain.

It’s a clear morning today, with only a few clouds in the distance. But that’s exactly the problem; the rain went elsewhere and the people in Valencia were completely taken by surprise because they had not seen the rain and had not anticipated the flood coming up the rivers so quickly.

This is where public education should change and play such a role.

People need to understand that it doesn’t have to be raining where you are to have a very dangerous flood. People need to be told that they shouldn’t get into their cars, which can be natural.

As we have seen, these cars become death traps on congested roads that are impassable. People need to know that they need to climb high ground, and they need to know where that high ground is.

Although there were warnings, they clearly did not express the necessary urgency.