At least 62 people have been killed in the floods in Spain after the eastern region of Valencia was battered by torrential rains on Tuesday. Heavy rain and fierce winds also lashed the southern Andalusia region. According to the region’s fire service chief Jose Miguel Basset, “several hundred people” remained trapped on two motorways in the region. The flooding left roads and towns submerged under water as rescuers worked in the dark, scouring the floodwaters to save people.
The flash floods are said to be deadliest to hit Spain in the past three decades. The death toll appeared to be the worst in Europe since 2021 when at least 185 people died in Germany in flooding. It is Spain’s worst flood-related disaster since 1996, when 87 people died in a town in the Pyrenees mountains.
Television pictures from the town of Utiel showed rescuers using dinghies to rescue several people stuck due to flooding. The emergency services were also working to reach the worst-hit areas, news agency Reuters reported.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “For those who at this moment are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you. To the villages and cities destroyed by this tragedy, I say the same: Together, we will rebuild your streets, your squares, your bridges.”
Carlos Mazon, the regional leader of Valencia, which is said to be one of the most important agricultural regions in Spain, stated that some people remained isolated in inaccessible locations. Addressing a press conference, Mazon said: “If (emergency services) have not arrived, it’s not due to a lack of means or predisposition, but a problem of access,” adding that reaching certain areas was “absolutely impossible”.
Defence Minister Margarita Robles told AFP that “more than a thousand troops” backed by helicopters were deployed in the face of “an unprecedented phenomenon”. Fire service chief Basset also said that nearly 200 people were rescued overnight by the emergency services in the Valencia region. They were being sheltered in fire stations.
Multiple videos shared on social media overnight showed people trapped by the floodwaters and some climbing on trees to avoid themselves from being swept away. They also showed rescue workers transporting women in a bulldozer’s bucket. Additionally, firefighters could be seen rescuing drivers whose cars were stranded in flooded streets in Alzira town, the report noted.
Several videos also showed cars scattered and piled on top of each other on roads near the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia after a landslide. Locals were seen trying to clear the sludge from their homes with buckets after the flooding. They were seen wading through waist-high waters to save whatever they could from their belongings.
Due to flooding, schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas, while trains to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona were also cancelled. Parts of the Valencia region remain without power due to which the phone lines were disconnected. Some places have also been cut off by flooded roads, regional chief Carlos Mazon told news agency AFP.
Emergency services in the flood-hit region urged citizens to avoid traveling via roads and to follow official advice. A military unit specialised in rescue operations was also deployed to help local emergency workers in some places.
Spain’s state weather agency AEMET on Tuesday declared a red alert in Valencia, which is a leading citrus-growing region. Here, some areas such as Turis and Utiel recorded 200 mm (7.9 inches) of rainfall. Although the rain is said to have stopped now, but Castellon in the north of the region would remain on orange alert until 2 p.m. (1300 GMT).
One of Spain’s largest farmer groups, ASAJA, said on Tuesday that it is likely that the crops suffered significant damage in the flooding. The downpours are expected to continue until at least Thursday.