Code orange in disaster area, code red in Andalusia
The Spanish weather service Aemet raised the warning level to ‘orange’ in several places along the Spanish east coast late on Saturday. According to the weather service, heavy storms and heavy precipitation are likely to occur in the disaster area in the Valencia region from nine o’clock on Sunday morning. Code orange also applies to the area around Murcia and Alicante and the coastal region near Tarragona in Catalonia. Aemet warns of precipitation of “more than 100 to 150” liters per square meter.
For the rest of the east coast, from the coastal region below Granada in the south to the French border in the north, code yellow applies and the weather conditions are also risky due to heavy rain and wind. In Almeria, in the Andalusia region, code red has even been in effect since Sunday morning. Streams and canals are in danger of bursting their banks and flooding is a real possibility, says Aemet: “The danger is extreme.”
Five thousand extra soldiers
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is sending five thousand extra soldiers and an equal number of police and gendarmes to help the residents of the disaster area in the southeast of the country. Sanchez also provided a new victim balance on Saturday. At least 211 fatalities have now been counted as a result of the floods. An earlier assessment showed 207 deaths. The search for the missing continues. The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, had said on Friday evening in the Hora 25 program that “it is reasonable to think that there will be more deaths. It is impossible to know the number of missing and it would not be wise on my part to give a figure.”
Missing
The newspaper The Diary reports that approximately 1,900 residents were originally reported missing by telephone. The newspaper obtained that information from Valencia’s civil defense. But Grande-Marlaska could not confirm that number. “These figures are not taken into account because they do not meet proper criteria,” it said.
It has now been possible to trace 600 people who were reported missing after the disaster. Many bodies have not yet been recovered. Until everything has been cleared up, it is impossible to gain insight into how many victims remain.
DS Video | Kasper Goethals in Paiporta: “Solidarity provides support, but many people are desperate.” — © De Standaard
Local hospitals are currently overwhelmed with patients and are in danger of collapsing, it was said on Friday evening during a press conference with Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Carlos Mazón, who heads the regional government in Valencia.
Thousands of volunteers
In Valencia, thousands of volunteers have once again gathered to travel to the suburbs worst affected by the floods. Miguel Salvador, president of the Volunteer Platform of the Valencian Community, expects around 6,000 to 7,000 volunteers on Saturday. These will be taken to the affected regions by buses.
