Spain floods latest: Deaths soar over 200 in Valencia amid fresh fears of flooding and new rain alert issued
Death toll continues to rise after worst flash floods in three decades sweeps across Spanish region of Valencia
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Your support makes all the difference.The number of those killed in catastrophic flash flooding in Spain has soared to at least 205, as fresh weather warnings for rain prompt fears of further flooding.
The death toll rose significantly on Friday as rescue workers continued to search for missing people. 202 of those killed were in the hardest-hit region of Valencia alone.
Spain’s state weather agency, Aemet, has issued the most severe kind of weather alert in the south west of the country as the province of Huelva was hit by torrential rain.
Those impacted the worst by the flash flooding in eastern Spain are also expecting more rain, as yellow and amber weather warnings remain in place.
The country is in its second day of an official three-day national mourning, with flags at half-mast on official buildings.
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez urged residents to stay at home as he warned devastation is “not finished” on Thursday and declared the worst impacted province of Valencia a “disaster zone”.
Weather warning for today
Heavy rains continued as the Spanish weather agency issued more rain alerts for the southern coast of Valencia along with the Tarragona and Castellon regions.
Climate change is making extreme downpours in Spain heavier and more likely, scientists say
Human-caused climate change made Spain’s rainfall about 12% heavier and doubled the likelihood of a storm as intense as this week’s deluge of Valencia, according to a rapid but partial analysis Thursday by World Weather Attribution, a group of international scientists who study global warming’s role in extreme weather.
Monstrous flash floods in Spain claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone. An unknown number of people are still missing and more victims could be found. Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday.
World Weather Attribution said climate change is the most likely explanation for extreme downpours in southern Spain, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, leading to heavier downpours. The group noted its analysis is not a full, detailed attribution study, as the scientists did not use climate models to simulate the event in a world without human-caused warming.
Read more here:
Climate change is making extreme downpours in Spain heavier and more likely, scientists say
Human-caused climate change made Spain’s rainfall about 12% heavier and doubled the likelihood of a storm as intense as this week’s deluge of Valencia, according to a rapid but partial analysis Thursday by World Weather Attribution, a group of international scientists who study global warming’s role in extreme weather
‘Everything looks apocalyptic’, says Spain flood victim
A terrified Valencia flood victim has revealed the scale of the devastation after heavy floodwaters engulfed her home in a matter of minutes.
Alba Paredes Borja is from the Spanish town of Alfafar, one of the areas hardest hit by the deadly storm, where local authorities are calling for urgent help in receiving food, water and medical supplies.
“I’m terrified. Everything looks apocalyptic,” she told The Independent. The floods – known as the “cold drop” or DANA phenomena – have claimed 158 lives, including at least three people in the municipality, leaving the city in ruins and cut off from all communication.
Salma Ouaguira reports.
‘Terrified’ Spain flood victim reveals scale of devastation: ‘It’s apocalyptic’
‘By the time they warned homes were flooding, mine was already underwater’
EU says 'catastrophic' Spain floods should serve as warning
Officials of the European Union cited the devastating flooding in Spain as a reminder of the self-harming effects of humans' destruction of nature.
European Commission envoy Florika Fink-Hooijer said the "catastrophe" in Spain's Valencia region highlighted the link between biodiversity loss and human-caused climate crisis.
"If we act on biodiversity, we at least can buffer some of the climate impacts," Ms Fink-Hooijer said at a press conference.
"At this COP we really have a chance to act," she added.
Floods demolish bridges and roads become floating graveyards
The floods have demolished bridges and left roads unrecognisable as they became floating graveyards.
Rushing water turned narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that tore through homes and businesses, sweeping away cars, people and everything else in its path.
Luis Sanchez, a welder, said he saved several people who were trapped in their cars on the flooded V-31 highway south of Valencia city.
The road rapidly became a floating graveyard strewn with hundreds of vehicles.
"I saw bodies floating past. I called out, but nothing," Mr Sanchez said.
"The firefighters took the elderly first, when they could get in. I am from nearby so I tried to help and rescue people.
"People were crying all over, they were trapped."
Watch: ‘Terrified’ Valencia flood victim shows scale of devastation
Spain floods mapped: Where are weather alerts in force?
Weather warnings are in force across swathes of Spain as further storms approach on the heels of devastating flooding which has claimed at least 158 lives – making it the country’s worst natural disaster in living memory.
Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has warned that the devastation caused by flash flooding is “not finished” as he declared Valencia a “disaster zone” on Thursday. Urging residents to remain in their homes, he said: “Right now the most important thing is to safeguard as many lives as possible.”
Cities such as Valencia and Malaga were inundated this week after nearly a year’s worth of rain – close to half a metre – fell in just eight hours in some areas, leaving residents “trapped like rats” in homes and cars, as described by one desperate local mayor recalling the chaos.
My colleague Andy Gregory reports:
Spain floods mapped: Where are weather alerts in force as death toll hits 158?
New weather warnings issued in dozens of areas in Spain as prime minister warns devastation from flooding is ‘not finished’
Crews search for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings
Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings as residents salvaged what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone.
More horrors emerged on Thursday from the debris and ubiquitous layers of mud left by the walls of water that produced Spain's deadliest natural disaster in living memory.
The damage from the storm late Tuesday and early Wednesday recalled the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces as they mourn their loved ones.
Cars were piled on one another like fallen dominoes, uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in Valencia, a region south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast.
An unknown number of people are still missing and more victims could be found.
"Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles," Spain's Transport Minister Oscar Puente said early on Thursday before the death toll spiked from 95 on Wednesday night.
What caused the devastating flash flooding in Spain?
As emergency services continue their desperate search for those still missing in Spain, many are questioning what caused the devastating flash flooding which has killed at least 158 people.
Dubbed “the flood of the century”, rainfall on Tuesday saw wide swathes of southern and eastern Spain completely destroyed by torrents of muddy water.
With cars tumbling down streets in Valencia and village roads turned to rivers, the army was drafted in to assist in the ongoing rescue operation.
My colleague Athena Stavrou reports:
What caused the devastating flash flooding in Spain?
Spain’s meteorological agency, said Valencia had seen ‘the most adverse cold drop of the century’ prior to this week’s floods
Farms ruined by rains as storms hit beyond Valencia
Greenhouses and farms across southern Spain, known as Europe's garden for its exported produce, were also ruined by heavy rains and flooding.
While the most suffering was inflicted on municipalities near the city of Valencia, the storms unleashed their fury over huge swaths of the south and eastern coast of the Iberian peninsula.
Two fatalities were confirmed in the neighboring Castilla La Mancha region and one in southern Andalusia.
The storms spawned a hail storm that punched holes in cars in Andalusia, while homes were left without water as far southwest as Malaga in the region.
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