Tragic Flash Floods in Spain Claim the Lives of At Least 95 People
Spain has faced catastrophe as flash floods transformed serene village lanes into torrents, obliterating homes, halting transit, and claiming at least 95 lives in what many deem the nation’s most dire natural calamity of recent memory.
Torrential downpours battered southern and eastern Spain from Tuesday through Wednesday, impacting areas from Malaga to Valencia. Vehicles became playthings in the rushing water, while debris and household goods spun in the rapidly rising currents. Police and rescuers employed helicopters and inflatable boats to evacuate stranded individuals from rooftops and marooned cars.
On Wednesday, emergency services in the Valencia area verified a death toll of 92. Neighboring Castilla La Mancha and southern Andalusia reported two and one fatalities, respectively.
“Yesterday was the most harrowing day of my life,” declared Ricardo Gabaldón, Utiel’s mayor, during a talk with national broadcaster RTVE. He reported six fatalities among locals, with others still missing.
“It was sheer bedlam. Cars and garbage dumpsters floated past, and the water levels approached three meters,” he recalled.
In response, Spain’s government marked three days of mourning beginning on Thursday.
“To those desperately searching for their loved ones, know that all of Spain shares in your sorrow,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez conveyed in a televised speech.
Rescue teams and around 1,100 military personnel from Spain’s emergency forces mobilized to assist the afflicted regions, as the central government formed a crisis committee to streamline rescue endeavors.
Javier Berenguer, a 63-year-old baker from Utiel, escaped his shop just as water threatened to trap him. It swelled to about 2.5 meters within his establishment, jeopardizing his way of life.
“I had to scramble out a window as water surged around my shoulders. I sought refuge on an upper floor with neighbors and spent the night there,” Berenguer relayed to The Associated Press. “Everything has been swept away. I’m left with nothing but ruins, no freezer, no oven.”
Another local, María Carmen Martínez, recounted a dramatic rescue.
“It was horrifying. A man clung to a fence, shouting for aid until helicopters arrived to pull him to safety,” she recounted.
Paiporta, a Valencia town, suffered immensely, with Mayor Maribel Albalat informing RTVE that more than 30 residents died, including several from a senior citizens’ home. News outlets broadcast heartbreaking images of seniors sitting in wheelchairs amidst rising waters, visibly distressed and crying out.
“We didn’t understand what hit us; within minutes, the whole village flooded,” said Albalat.
According to Spain’s national weather service, the rain over those eight hours in Valencia surpassed what had fallen in the past 20 months, labeling it “exceptional.”
Valencia, a Mediterranean treasure south of Barcelona, renowned for its beaches and citrus groves, became a nightmare scene. Normally dry riverbeds fed by rain swelled dangerously, streaming through inhabited neighborhoods.
Post-flood, mud and debris coated some streets so thick that their previous state was unrecognizable.
“My locality is in shambles,” described Christian Viena, a bar owner in Barrio de la Torre, by phone. “Cars are literally stacked, pathways are wrecked, and mud is knee-deep.”
Outside Viena’s establishment, residents combated the wreckage, gathering any belongings worth salvaging amid a tangle of vehicles and soggy debris.
Spain is no stranger to autumn storms in recent years, though nothing compares to this destruction echoing the 2021 floods in Germany and Belgium, where 230 lives perished.
The grim tally may climb as other regions relay their counts and search missions continue in isolated locales.
“We’re in a gripping predicament,” stated territory minister Ángel Víctor Torres. “The lack of clarity on missing persons underscores the crisis’s enormity.”
Struggling with recent droughts and unparalleled high temperatures, Spain confronts the repercussions of climate change. Drought-parched land struggles to absorb sudden immense rainfall, resulting in more chaos.
The tempest even released a rare twister and extraordinary hailstorm, shattering car windows and greenhouses.
Transport networks took a hit, with a high-speed train derailing near Malaga carrying nearly 300 passengers – fortunately with no injuries. Rail services between Valencia and Madrid halted, possibly for days, while bus and local train lines experienced similar disruptions. Overnight, about 1,500 people faced canceled flights in Valencia’s airport, but air travel resumed Wednesday.
Scheduled soccer matches for Valencia and Levante were scrapped, as players from Barcelona and Madrid held brief memorials for flood victims before their training sessions on Wednesday.
Valencia regional President Carlos Mazón advised residents to remain indoors due to obstructed roads and vehicular wreckage. Fallen electric lines and power outages hindered rescue efforts, which saw emergency services dealing with some 30,000 calls, according to Mazón.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned the EU’s aid in coordinating rescue missions through the Copernicus geo-monitoring satellite system.
Social media, TV, and radio became real-time bulletin boards for residents to locate missing loved ones, highlighting stories like Leonardo Enrique’s, who shared his family’s frantic search for his 40-year-old son. Trapped by torrential waters in his delivery van, Leonardo Jr.’s last message referenced being struck by another vehicle in one of the disaster’s epicenters, Ribarroja.
Wilson reported from Barcelona and Medrano contributed from Madrid, with input from AP journalist Lorne Cook in Brussels.
Edited by: Ali Musa
alimusa@axadletimes.com
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