By Eva Manez and David Latona
La Alcudia: At least 95 people have been killed in the deadliest flooding to hit Spain for three decades after torrential rain battered the eastern region of Valencia, sweeping away bridges and buildings.
Meteorologists said a year’s worth of rain had fallen in eight hours in parts of Valencia, causing pile-ups on highways and submerging farmland in a region that produces two-thirds of the citrus fruit grown in Spain, a leading global exporter.
Residents look at cars piled up after being swept away by floods in Valencia, Spain.Credit: AP
Residents in the worst-hit places described seeing people clambering onto the roofs of their cars as a churning tide of brown water gushed through the streets, uprooting trees and dragging away chunks of masonry from buildings.
“It’s a river that came through,” said Denis Hlavaty, who waited for rescue on a ledge at the petrol station where he works in the regional capital. “The doors were torn away and I spent the night there, surrounded by water that was two metres deep.”
Defence Minister Margarita Robles told Cadena Ser radio station that a military unit specialised in rescue operations would start combing through the mud and debris with sniffer dogs in the worst-hit areas on Thursday.
Asked if the number of victims was likely to increase, she said: “Unfortunately we are not optimistic.” The teams have brought with them 50 mobile morgues.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised to rebuild infrastructure that had been destroyed and said in a televised address: “For those who at this moment are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you.”
Footage shot by emergency services from a helicopter showed bridges that had collapsed and cars and trucks piled on top of each other on highways between flooded fields outside the city of Valencia.
“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Ricardo Gabaldon, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday. He said six residents died and more were missing.
“We were trapped like rats. Cars and trash containers were flowing down the streets. The water was rising to three meters,” he said.
Spain’s government declared three days of mourning starting on Thursday.
Trains to Madrid and Barcelona were cancelled, and schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas, officials said.
Power company i-DE, owned by Europe’s biggest utility, Iberdrola, said about 150,000 clients in Valencia had no electricity.
A woman walks along train tracks covered debris after flash-flooding hit the Valencia region.Credit: Getty Images
Emergency services in the region urged citizens to avoid all road travel, and a military unit specialised in rescue operations was deployed in some places to help local emergency workers.
Some parts of Valencia such as the towns of Turis, Chiva or Bunol recorded more than 400 millimetres of rainfall.
There was also flooding in other parts of the country, including the southern region of Andalusia, and forecasters warned of more bad weather ahead as the storm moved in a north-easterly direction.
The regional weather service in Catalonia issued a red alert for the area around Barcelona, warning of high winds and hail, while AEMET placed the city of Jerez in Andalusia on red alert.
“[The floodwaters] took away lots of dogs, lots of horses, they took away everything,” said Antonio Carmona, a construction worker and resident of Alora in the southern region.
As the floods receded, thick layers of mud mixed with refuse made some streets unrecognisable.
“Everything is a total wreck, everything is ready to be thrown away. The mud is almost 30 centimetres deep.” Christian Viena, a bar owner in the Valencian village of Barrio de la Torre, said.
Cars are piled in the street with other debris after flash floods hit the region in the Sedaví area of Valencia, Spain.Credit: Getty Images
Deadliest Spanish floods since 1996
The death toll appeared to be the worst in Europe from flooding since 2021 when at least 185 people died in Germany.
It is the deadliest flood-related disaster in Spain since 1996, when 87 people died near a town in the Pyrenees mountains.
Emergency workers clearing debris after heavy rains hit the Letur region in Albacete province, Spain. Credit: Getty Images
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that Europe was ready to help. “What we’re seeing in Spain is devastating,” she said.
ASAJA, one of Spain’s largest farmer groups, said it expected significant damage to crops.
Spain is the world’s largest exporter of fresh and dried oranges, according to trade data provider the Observatory of Economic Complexity, and Valencia accounts for about 60 per cent of the country’s citrus production, according to Valencian Institute of Agriculture Investigations.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.
“Events of this type, which used to occur many decades apart, are now becoming more frequent and their destructive capacity is greater,” said Ernesto Rodriguez Camino, senior state meteorologist and a member of the Spanish Meteorological Association.
Reuters
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