Deadly floods in Spain: they film the arrival of water in Valencia, and how everything became chaotic in just a few seconds

The death toll from deadly floods in eastern Spain now stands at 155, authorities in the Valencia region said Thursday. The EFE agency had previously reported 140 deaths, after a first official report of 95 deaths communicated on Wednesday. The Valencia region was submerged on Tuesday and Wednesday by torrential rains, caused by a cold drop, which caused floods of historic severity.

The rise in water was very sudden, and while the warning messages took a long time to be sent, the surprise was total for many residents. Several videos shared on the networks show the arrival of water in Valencia: it only took a few seconds for the torrent to invade the streets.

Here is the result shortly after:

Thousands of motorists surprised by floods

On Tuesday evening, motorists were stranded by flash floods. Authorities said Wednesday evening that 1,200 people were still stuck in their vehicles.

Proof in images of the AP-7 and A-3 highways, filmed Thursday from the air, where vehicles by the dozens and dozens are completely abandoned. Motorists had no choice but to flee the rising waters by abandoning their personal belongings.

“There are bodies in some vehicles”

On Thursday, rescuers were combing through rubble and mud-drenched vehicle wrecks in search of missing people. Supported by helicopters, they use excavators and tractors equipped with pumps to clear the streets, which have become veritable scenes of chaos.

The current red alert has been lifted by Civil Protection, but five regions of Spain remain on orange alert for rain and flooding: Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, the Valencia region and the Balearic Islands. The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, observed a minute of silence in front of the city hall on Thursday with the entire city council in memory of the victims.

Floods have swept away bridges, destroyed roads and railway lines, and swallowed up crops in this region which produces almost two thirds of the citrus fruits grown in Spain. According to Transport Minister Oscar Puente, around 80 kilometers of roads are impassable in the east, due to the damage but also to the accumulation of vehicles abandoned or blocked by rising muddy waters.

“Unfortunately, there are bodies in some vehicles,” the minister told the press. He added that it would take two to three weeks to restore rail traffic between Valencia and Madrid.

A year of rain in 8 hours

According to meteorologists, the equivalent of a year's rain fell in eight hours in parts of Valencia on Tuesday. The storm that caused the torrential rains has since moved northeast. The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, visited a relief center in Eliana, near Valencia, on Thursday. He urged residents to stay home.

“What matters as I speak to you is to preserve as many lives as possible,” he said. Voices were raised in the ranks of the Spanish opposition to denounce the slowness of the central government in the face of the imminence of the catastrophe. The Interior Ministry responded that the organization of relief and risk management was the responsibility of regional authorities.

In the rural town of Utiel, 85 km from Valencia, the Magro burst its banks, throwing up to three meters of water into houses, most of which have only one floor. Utiel Mayor Ricardo Gabaldon said at least six people had died in this town of about 12,000, most of them elderly or disabled people who were unable to escape. take shelter. The floods also hit farmers and ranchers hard, destroying their crops and killing their livestock.

Javier Iranzo, 47, and Ana Carmen Fernandez, 48, residents of Utiel, told Reuters their pig farm was decimated and 50 of their animals drowned. They estimate the damage at hundreds of thousands of euros and, despite promises of help from the government, are worried about whether they will receive state aid to help them rebuild their farm.