Rescue workers are searching for bodies after massive floods in Spain that have claimed at least 158 lives.
Spain’s worst natural disaster this century has left a trail of destruction in its wake and there are fears that more horrors may emerge from the ubiquitous layers of mud that the water walls left in their wake late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, there are dead people in some vehicles,” said Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente.
The widespread damage was reminiscent of the aftermath of a hurricane or tsunami.
Cars piled on top of each other like toppled dominoes, uprooted trees, fallen power lines and household items, all stuck in the mud that covered the streets of dozens of communities in Valencia’s worst-hit region.
The 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.
The floods have destroyed bridges and made roads unrecognizable.
Luís Sánchez, a welder, was among the lucky ones when the storm turned the V-31 highway south of the city of Valencia into a floating graveyard littered with hundreds of vehicles.
He said he saved several people.
“I saw bodies floating by. I didn’t shout anything,” Sánchez said.
“The fire brigade took the elderly first, when they could get in. I’m from the area, so I tried to help and save people. People were crying everywhere, they were stuck.”
Regional authorities said late on Wednesday that it appeared no one was stranded on rooftops or in cars and needed to be rescued, after helicopters rescued about 70 people.
“Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so that we can help end the suffering of their families,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Thursday after a meeting with regional officials and emergency services in Valencia, the first of three official days of mourning. .
The floods have destroyed bridges and made roads unrecognizable. Source: MONKEY / Manuel Bruque/EPA
Scientists say the storm is caused by global warming
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the most powerful flash flood in recent history.
Scientists link it to climate change, which is also responsible for increasing temperatures and droughts in Spain and the warming of the Mediterranean Sea.
The greatest pain was concentrated in Paiporta, a community of 25,000 people next to the city of Valencia, where Mayor Maribel Albalat said on Thursday that 62 people had died.
While most suffering was inflicted on municipalities near the city of Valencia, the storms unleashed their fury across large parts of the southern and eastern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula.
A man crosses the destroyed tracks of Line 1 of the Valencia Metro in the flood-affected municipality of Paiporta, Valencia province, Spain. Source: EPA / Manuel Bruque
Two fatalities were reported in the neighboring region of Castilla La Mancha and one in southern Andalusia.
The storms caused a bizarre tornado in Valencia and a hail storm that punched holes in cars in Andalusia.
The heavy rain continued further north on Thursday when the Spanish weather agency issued a red alert for several provinces in Castellón, in the eastern Valencia region, and for Tarragona in Catalonia.
“This storm front is still with us,” the prime minister said.
“Stay at home and follow the official recommendation and you will help save lives.”
More than a thousand soldiers from Spanish emergency rescue units joined regional and local aid workers in the search for bodies and survivors.
By Wednesday evening, soldiers had recovered 22 bodies and rescued 110 people.
DEKYAS NEWS World Breaking News and Trusted Source
