Spain floods latest: Dogs being used in search for missing people as ‘stick-wielding’ vigilantes patrol streets
Flooding that killed at least 217 people, mostly near Valencia, dumped rain on Barcelona on Monday
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Your support makes all the difference.As Spain grapples with its deadliest flood disaster in decades, tensions are escalating in the devastated Valencian suburb of Paiporta where vigilante groups have begun patrolling the streets to curb what they say are rampant post-flood robberies.
Following record-breaking floods that claimed over 200 lives across Spain, residents in some of the hardest-hit areas have turned to self-policing, frustrated by what they see as a lacklustre official response.
Groups of local men—some donning nationalist symbols—are patrolling rubble-strewn, poorly lit streets, seeking to prevent further victimisation by deterring alleged looters, Reuters has reported.
The suburb of Valencia where the stick-wielding men are patrolling is where the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud.
As search and rescue operations continue, authorities are using sniffer dogs to comb through a submerged underground carpark at a shopping centre on the outskirts of the city, where severe flooding left vehicles and the structure underwater.
As police teams pump out the floodwaters and search through the roughly 50 waterlogged vehicles discovered so far, no bodies have yet been found.
Survivors described the terrifying event to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo as “a nightmare” and “worse” than the “tsunami movie” with shop assistants recounting how they narrowly escaped as torrents of water surged into the complex.
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Hard-hit towns at risk of diseases over floodwaters and decomposing bodies
Spanish public health experts have warned over immediate health risks associated with stagnant floodwaters and decomposing bodies.
The Ministry of Health has insisted that water contamination from dead animals or humans is not currently a public health issue.
However, residents remain at high risk over gastrointestinal illnesses from drinking contaminated water, injuries from debris, and the proliferation of mosquitoes spreading diseases.
Public health societies, emergency response teams, and NGOs are currently working on the ground in the most affected areas like Paiporta and Chiva in Valencia to ensure the safety and hygiene of residents.
With dozens more feared to be dead, health officials have called local authorities to speed up search of bodies and clean-up operations to prevent further risks.
Body of one of the four missing people in Letur, Albacete, recovered
Body of one of the four missing people in Letur, Albacete, recovered
Flooding in Spain happened along a line stretching from the Bay of Cadiz to Valencia. But some areas were more affected than others with torrential rain in Letur in Albacete, where troops have been deployed for search and rescue operations.
Rescuers today confirmed they discovered the body of a man who was one of the four missing people in Letur.
In the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe, three bodies were found in Letur: two women aged 70 and 92.
Survivors describe tsunami-like horror of shopping centre flooding
Divers are still searching for bodies in the flooded underground car park of the Bonaire shopping centre in Valencia.
Emergency crews are navigating murky waters to locate potential victims at the shopping centre, using boats to access areas where at least a metre of water remains.
Survivors described the terrifying event to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo as “a nightmare” and “worse” than the “tsunami movie” with shop assistants recounting how they narrowly escaped as torrents of water surged into the complex as people were throwing up and having panic attacks.
Bonair is equivalent in size to 100 football fields with 123 shops including Zara and H&M, 34 restaurants, a bowling alley and 12-screen cinema.
One local wrote on social media: “I was lucky enough to be able to get my car out of the underground car park because they told us to evacuate. When I drove mine out there were still people and around 30 cars. It makes me frightened to think what they’ll find when they drain it.”
Spanish police seek DNA samples for missing,
Spain's national guard on Tuesday asked relatives of people missing in deadly floods to provide DNA samples to identify bodies, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was earmarking 10.6 billion euros ($11.6 billion) to help victims.
The government has declined to say how many people are missing almost a week on from the disaster. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said only that it was a “significant number” and that in the absence of clear information, it was “best not to specify”.
British government drawn up plans to cope with extreme weather following Spain floods
Sir Keir Starmer’s senior ministers have drawn up plans to cope with extreme weather this winter following the devastating floods in Spain.
The cross-government work will ensure “we are domestically as resilient as we possibly can be” over the winter, Downing Street said.
At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband pointed to warnings that 600,000 people in the UK could be at risk of flooding in future because of climate change.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden led the Cabinet briefing on winter preparations, adding that “recent events in Spain were a reminder of the impact that, for example, extreme weather can have on local communities”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re always preparing for all eventualities, whether it’s the impact of extreme weather, whether it’s impacts on the NHS.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The link was made to the fact that climate change can result in extreme weather events. We have obviously seen these very devastating scenes in Spain.”
Vigilante groups patrol Spain’s flood-hit areas at night
Vigilante groups, angry at authorities’ response to Spain‘s worst flood disaster in decades, have taken to the streets of the Valencian suburb of Paiporta to prevent what they say are widespread robberies and looting after dark.
The informally organised groups of stick-wielding locals are patrolling one of the worst-affected areas, where more than 60 out of at least 217 victims of the disaster died.
Martin, 19, told Reuters that he and his friends were taking the law into their own hands because they believed police were not carrying out their duty to maintain public safety.
“We’re patrolling because we don’t want our neighbours to feel the insecurity they’ve been feeling the past few days due to various robberies,” he said. “People have already lost enough.”
Public anger has mounted over what residents say was a slow and insufficient response by authorities, which led to King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez being pelted with mud during their visit on Sunday.
Sanchez launches 10.6 billion euro aid plan
Spain‘s prime minister Pedro Sanchez approved a 10.6-billion-euro (£8.9 billion) relief package for 78 communities.
Outlining the plans, he compared them to measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic and said they include direct payments of 20,000 euros to 60,000 euros to owners of damaged homes, among other financial aid for businesses and municipal governments.
Mr Sanchez said he would ask the European Union to help pay for the relief.
Spain’s king vows to give ‘hope’ after angry residents throw mud on his visit to Valencia town
Spain’s king has vowed to give “hope” after angry residents threw mud at him during his visit to a flood-stricken town in Valencia.
The king’s comments came during a visit to the epicentre of their nation’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory, where a crowd of enraged locals hurled clots of mud left by the storm-spawned flooding at Felipe VI and his wife Queen Letizia.
Spain’s king responds after angry residents throw mud on his visit to Valencia town
Spain’s king has vowed to give “hope” after angry residents threw mud at him during his visit to a flood-stricken town in Valencia. More than 200 people have died and thousands of livelihoods have been shattered following last week’s devastating floods. The king’s comments came during a visit to the epicenter of their nation's deadliest natural disaster in living memory, where a crowd of enraged locals hurled clots of mud left by the storm-spawned flooding at Felipe VI and his wife Queen Letizia. After the visit on Sunday (3 November), in a meeting with emergency services, Felipe said the anger had to be dealt with.
British couple missing for days in Spain floods found dead in car
A British couple has been found dead in their car days after severe flash floods swept through Spain.
Don Turner, 78, and his wife Terry, 74, had not been seen since Tuesday, when torrential rains began to batter Valencia. Ms Turner had told friends that they were “popping out” to shop for supplies.
The couple’s daughter, Ruth O’Loughlin, confirmed the bodies were discovered on Saturday. Ms O’Loughlin told BBC Radio WM that she found out her parents had died after receiving a message from their friends asking to call them.
British couple missing for days in Spain floods found dead in car
Terry and Don Turner had been missing since deadly downpours struck Valencia on Tuesday
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