Spain Floods Leave 95 Dead, Over 100,000 Homes Without Power

Photo : AP

Rescue efforts are underway in the Valencia region of Spain following catastrophic floods that have claimed at least 95 lives. The severe weather has submerged towns and scattered overturned vehicles across the streets, prompting a large-scale response from emergency services. 

Approximately 1,000 troops have joined police and firefighters in the grim task of searching for bodies and survivors as the nation observes three days of mourning. Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres indicated that the death toll may rise, warning that many individuals remain unaccounted for.

The disaster struck when an unprecedented amount of rainfall fell on Tuesday, with some areas experiencing up to a year’s worth of rain in just a few hours. This deluge resulted in torrents of water and mud sweeping through towns and cities, particularly impacting Paiporta, a suburb of Valencia, where around 40 people have been reported dead, including a mother and her baby who were swept away.

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Rescue operations have been intense, with helicopters deployed to airlift survivors from rooftops while others conducted searches in homes that were inundated with water. By Thursday morning, tens of thousands of households were still without electricity and drinking water, and many roads remained blocked by vehicles that had been swept away in the floodwaters.

Emergency services reported a total of 200 rescues carried out on the ground and an additional 70 aerial evacuations on Wednesday, as Valencia's regional government chief Carlos Mazon provided updates on the ongoing situation. The provisional death toll from Valencia alone stood at 92, with additional fatalities reported in neighboring regions, including two in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia.

In Sedavi, a suburb of Valencia, streets were transformed into a sea of mud and piled-up cars. Residents struggled to clear their homes of sludge and water, facing a daunting clean-up effort. Local officials, including Ribarroja del Turia’s town councillor Esther Gomez, described the panic as workers became trapped overnight in an industrial area inundated by overflowing streams. "It had been a long time since this happened, and we're scared," she remarked.

Spain’s weather service, AEMET, recorded an astonishing 491 mm of rain in just eight hours in Chiva, located west of Valencia, an amount almost equal to the average annual rainfall. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed solidarity with the victims and their families during a televised address, stating, “All of Spain weeps with all of you… We won't abandon you.” He announced plans to visit Valencia to oversee recovery efforts, emphasizing that the disaster is not yet over and that all necessary resources would be deployed.

King Felipe VI also expressed his devastation over the tragedy, extending heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. The aftermath of the floods has been complicated by damage to telephone networks and blocked roads, though access to urban areas was restored by Wednesday evening.

The storm left approximately 155,000 homes in the Valencia region without electricity, as reported by the energy company Iberdrola. The European Union activated its Copernicus satellite system to assist in coordinating rescue operations, with EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen offering further support through the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.

As the region continues to grapple with the consequences of this disaster, officials have begun sheltering survivors in temporary accommodations, including fire stations. Rail and air travel have also been severely disrupted, with the high-speed train service between Valencia and Madrid suspended for at least four days.

This tragic flood event marks Spain's deadliest since 1973, when at least 150 people lost their lives due to similar extreme weather conditions. Scientists warn that such severe weather occurrences are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change, which can overwhelm existing disaster management systems, even in developed nations like Spain. Experts are now scrutinizing the flood alert systems in place, suggesting that improvements are urgently needed to prevent future tragedies of this magnitude.

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