The latest provisional report from the floods which hit the South-East of Spain shows 95 deaths, including 92 in the region of Valencia alone, the hardest hit, while two other deaths were recorded in the neighboring region of Castile-La Mancha. This toll could increase, because rescuers are still looking for many people, which could be several dozen.
The rain stopped falling on Wednesday in Utiel and the Valencia region. However, unprecedented rainfall yesterday and overnight plunged many localities into chaos, while tens of thousands of residents are still without electricity.
A resident lost everything in Aldaya, a small town 15 km from Valencia, during the disaster. The city was cut off from the world, the houses and streets devastated. The cars, or what was left of them, were found overturned.
He had to move in in a few days, what a shame.
Anna, a resident of Aldaya
A building in Aldaya, whose entrance is covered in mud, plunged into darkness and lit by flashlights, was particularly affected. The water rose to 1m10, at waist level. Anna, the caretaker of the apartment, helpless in the face of the extent of the damage, expressed her sorrow on RTL. “There are people here who have lost everything. This man was supposed to move into this apartment in a few days. There are still the labels on the washing machine. He had only just assembled his furniture. What a misfortune“.
In this apartment where there is nothing left to save, the owner expressed his shock: “I'm 66 years old and at my age, we no longer have the strength to fight“Her 15-year-old daughter burst into tears when she discovered the state of the apartment for the first time.”We lost all our memories, our albums. That's what hurts the most, the photos“, she said in tears.
An alert triggered “too late” according to residents
Many residents of Aldaya are outraged by the red rain and flood alert which, according to them, was triggered much too late. “We didn’t know what was happening or what was going to happen.” Residents received warning messages on their phones, but the water was already knee-deep. Spanish authorities issued an alert message at 8:12 p.m., when hundreds of motorists were already stranded on the roads.
The city is disfigured, without water or electricity, and a return to normal seems impossible this morning.
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