By David Latona
Valencia/Godelleta: Rescue teams discovered the bodies of eight people on Thursday who had been trapped in a garage after devastating flash floods hit eastern Spain, as the death toll in the Valencia region alone climbed to at least 158.
Local authorities have not disclosed how many people are still unaccounted for after Europe’s deadliest floods in years, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles has said Spain’s final national death toll could be much greater.
In the town of Paiporta, about seven kilometres south of Valencia, retirement home residents faced a torrent of water after the flood broke through their facility’s perimeter wall, The Telegraph in the UK reported.
As the waters surged through the gardens and into a dining hall, where the residents ate, a panic broke out, according to the paper.
The water rose rapidly from their feet to their knees and then above the chests of the 120 residents – many of whom were confined to wheelchairs.
“I could hear people from the residence screaming ‘help, help’,” Marisol Lara, a 62-year-old woman, said through tears, The Telegraph reported.
In total, 45 people died in Paiporta, of them, six pensioners drowned, the media outlet reported.
Opposition politicians have accused the central government in Madrid of acting too slowly to warn residents and send in rescue teams, prompting the Interior Ministry to say regional authorities were responsible for civil protection measures.
Valencia Mayor Maria Jose Catala said a policeman was among the eight found drowned in the garage in the city’s suburb of La Torre. In the same neighbourhood, she added, a 45-year-old woman was also found dead in her home.
Residents clean up a mud-and-debris-covered street after flooding hit large parts of the country in the Paiporta municipality of Valencia, Spain.Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images
“Those people wouldn’t have died if they had been warned in time,” Laura Villaescusa, a neighbour and manager of a local supermarket, told Reuters.
Meteorologists said a year’s worth of rain fell in eight hours in parts of Valencia on Tuesday.
People walk among flooded cars piled up in Valencia, Spain.Credit: AP
The floods have battered Valencia’s infrastructure, sweeping away bridges, roads and rail tracks and submerging farmland in a region that produces about two-thirds of the citrus fruit grown in Spain, a leading global exporter of oranges.
Thousands of people carrying bags or pushing shopping trolleys could be seen on Thursday crossing a pedestrian bridge over the Turia river from La Torre into Valencia city centre to stock up on essential supplies such as toilet paper and water.
Paiporta Mayor Maribel Albalat said they had never received warning of the imminent danger of flooding. She said 62 people had died in her town.
“We found a lot of elderly people inside their homes and people who went to get their cars. It was a trap,” she told TVE.
Clinging to pillar
In Godelleta, a town 37 kilometres west of Valencia city, Antonio Molina, 52, described how he survived a flash flood on Tuesday evening by clinging to a pillar on a neighbour’s porch with water up to his neck until the heavy rain finally subsided.
His dog was later found alive, swimming in the water, while his wife and son saved themselves by reaching the upper floor of their home.
Molina’s home had already suffered two major floods in 2018 and 2020, and he blamed authorities for allowing the construction of residential buildings in depressions where water accumulates.
People cross a bridge through piles of debris in Valencia..Credit: Getty Images
“We don’t want to live here any more,” he said tearfully. “As soon as we get a couple of raindrops, we’re already checking our phones.”
About 80 kilometres of roads in the eastern region were seriously damaged or impassable, said Transport Minister Oscar Puente. Many were blocked by abandoned cars.
“Unfortunately, there are dead bodies in some vehicles,” Puente told reporters, adding that it would take two to three weeks to re-establish the high-speed train connection between Valencia and Madrid.
Visiting a rescue co-ordination centre near Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged people to stay at home due to the threat of more stormy weather.
“Right now, the most important thing is to safeguard as many lives as possible,” he told reporters.
In the hard-hit rural town of Utiel, about 85 kilometres inland, the Magro River burst its banks, sending up to three metres of water into the mostly single-storey homes.
Utiel’s Mayor Ricardo Gabaldon said at least six people had died in the town of about 12,000, most of them elderly or disabled people who were unable to clamber to safety.
Residents used water pumps carried on tractors as they started to clean up early on Thursday, with children helping to sweep the sidewalks. Ruined household appliances and furniture were piled up in the middle of roads and elderly people struggled to walk in the slippery, mud-coated streets.
Reuters
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