Spanish floods kill 72 as year of rain falls in a day in Valencia

LA ALCUDIA: At least 72 people have been killed in the deadliest flooding to hit Spain for three decades after torrential rain battered the eastern region of Valencia, sweeping away bridges and buildings, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Meteorologists said a year’s rain had fallen in eight hours in parts of Valencia on Tuesday, causing pile-ups on highways and submerging farmland in a region that produces two-thirds of the citrus fruit grown in Spain, a leading global exporter.

Residents in the worst-hit places described seeing people clambering onto the roofs of their cars as a churning tide of brown water gushed through the streets, uprooting trees and dragging away chunks of masonry from buildings.

“For those who at this moment are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address.

“To the villages and cities destroyed by this tragedy, I say the same: Together, we will rebuild your streets, your squares, your bridges,” he said.

Footage shot by emergency services from a helicopter showed bridges that had collapsed and cars and trucks piled on top of each other on highways between flooded fields outside the city of Valencia.

Trains to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona were cancelled due to the flooding, and schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas, officials said.

Carlos Mazon, the regional leader of Valencia, one of Spain’s most important agricultural regions, said some people remained isolated in inaccessible locations.

“If (emergency services) have not arrived, it’s not due to a lack of means or predisposition, but a problem of access,” Mazon told a press conference, adding that reaching certain areas was “absolutely impossible”.

Dozens of videos shared on social media overnight appeared to show people trapped by the floodwaters, with some climbing into trees to avoid being swept away. 

Footage showed rescue workers transporting several women in a bulldozer’s bucket.

Firefighters could be seen freeing drivers whose cars were stranded in flooded streets in the town of Alzira.

Trains to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona were cancelled due to the flooding, and schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas, officials said.

The death toll appeared to be the worst in Europe from flooding since 2021 when at least 185 people died in Germany.

It is the worst flood-related disaster in Spain since 1996, when 87 people died near in a town in the Pyrenees mountains.

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe due to climate change.

Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.

Emergency services in the region urged citizens to avoid all road travel and to follow further official advice, and a military unit specialised in rescue operations was deployed in some places to help local emergency workers.

Spain’s state weather agency AEMET declared a red alert on Tuesday in Valencia with some areas such as Turis and Utiel recording 200mm (7.9 inches) of rainfall.

It said the rain had since stopped but said that Castellon in the north of the region would remain on orange alert until 2pm (1300 GMT).