Worst floods in Europe since 2021, potentially worst in Spain; death toll could rise further as search increases on Thursday; roads closed, trains suspended; storms spread to other areas Farms in Valencia, a major orange producing region, are affected.
LA ALCUDIA, Spain, Oct 30 (Reuters) – At least 95 people have been killed in what is perhaps the worst flooding to hit Spain in modern history after torrential rains battered the eastern region of Valencia, washing away bridges and buildings. announced local authorities. Wednesday.
Meteorologists said on Tuesday that a year’s worth of rain fell in parts of Valencia in eight hours, blocking highways in the region that produces two-thirds of the citrus grown in Spain, one of the world’s top exporters. It was announced that a collision occurred and the farmland was submerged.
Residents in the worst-hit areas said they saw people climbing onto the roofs of cars as swirls of brown water rushed through streets, uprooting trees and pulling chunks of stone from buildings.
“The river came flowing,” said Dennis Hlavati, who was waiting for rescue on a ledge at a gas station in the regional capital. “The door was ripped open and we spent the night there surrounded by water 2 meters (6.5 feet) deep.”
Defense Minister Margarita Robles told Cadenaser radio station that military units specializing in rescue operations would begin searching mud and debris in the worst-hit areas on Thursday using sniffer dogs.
Asked if the number of victims could rise further, she said: “Unfortunately I cannot be optimistic.” The team brought in 50 mobile morgues.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised to rebuild destroyed infrastructure and said in a televised address: “At this moment, all of Spain is crying together for those who are searching for their loved ones.”
Footage taken by emergency services from a helicopter showed a bridge collapsing on a main road between flooded fields on the outskirts of Valencia, pinning cars and trucks on top of each other.
Officials said trains to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona were suspended due to flooding, and schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas.
Power company i-DE, part of Europe’s largest power company Iberdrola, announced that around 150,000 customers in Valencia were without power.
The region’s emergency services urged people to avoid all road travel and follow further official advice.
Item 1/16 A car leans precariously against a wall after a major flood in Utiel, Spain, on October 30, 2024. Reuters/Susana Vera
(1/16) A car leans precariously against a wall after a major flood in Utiel, Spain, on October 30, 2024. Reuters/Susana Vella purchases license rights, opens in a new tab
Some areas in the Valencia region, including the towns of Turis, Chiba and Bunol, received more than 400 millimeters (15-3/4 inches) of rainfall, prompting state meteorological agency AEMET to issue a red alert on Tuesday. Temperatures dropped to amber as the rain eased Wednesday.
Flooding was also occurring in other parts of the country, including southern Andalusia, and forecasters warned of more severe weather ahead as the storm moves northeast.
“(The floods) took away a lot of dogs and horses and took everything,” said Antonio Carmona, a construction worker from Alora, Andalusia state.
worst spanish floods
The death toll, including three in other parts of the country, appears to be Europe’s worst flood disaster since 2021, when at least 185 people died in Germany. The toll exceeds the 87 people who died in the 1996 floods near the Pyrenean town of Viescas, making it perhaps the deadliest in Spain’s modern history.
In 1957, flooding in the city of Valencia killed dozens of people, and a new channel of the River Turia was built to prevent flooding in the city center.
Andalusia regional leader Juanma Moreno announced that a 71-year-old British man died in hospital of heart failure after being rescued from his flooded home in Malaga, suffering from hypothermia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told X that Europe was ready to help. “What we are seeing in Spain is devastating,” she told X.
ASAJA, one of Spain’s largest agricultural associations, said on Tuesday that significant damage to crops was expected.
Spain is the world’s biggest exporter of fresh and dried oranges, according to the Economic Complex Observatory, which provides trade data, and Valencia accounts for about 60% of the country’s citrus production, according to the Valencian Agricultural Research Institute. .
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists believe that the warming Mediterranean Sea is increasing water evaporation, playing a key role in intensifying heavy rains.
“These types of events, which previously occurred at intervals of decades, are now becoming more frequent and more destructive,” said the state’s senior meteorologist and member of the Spanish Meteorological Association. said Ernesto Rodriguez Camino.
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Reporting by Eva Manez, Emma Pinedo, David Latona, and Inti Landauro. Written by Charlie Devereux. Editing: Andrei Kalip, Helen Popper, Alison Williams, Gareth Jones, Sandra Marler
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