Record heavy rains hit southeastern Spain today, accompanied by swollen rivers, in a storm in which, according to the authorities, at least four people lost their lives.
Because of the storm that hit the coastal Mediterranean areas of Valencia, Murcia and eastern Andalusia yesterday and today, more than 3.500 people are in need of urgent rescue, said Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
Some cities reported that the last two days had the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.
The airports of Almeria and Murcia are closed, trains are not running and roads are closed, and schools have been canceled as authorities have urged residents to avoid driving.
The city authorities of Almeria on the Mediterranean coast announced that a man died this morning when he became trapped in the car he used to enter a flooded tunnel. The police stated that it was a 48-year-old man who ignored police warnings not to enter the tunnel, the Europa Press news agency reports.
The police added that his brother, who was also in the car, managed to swim to save himself.
Emergency services in Andalusia said a 36-year-old man died before rescuers could reach him when his car was flooded in the town of Hamula, 100 kilometers from Almeria.
Yesterday, rescuers found a 51-year-old woman and her 61-year-old brother dead in an overturned car that was engulfed by swollen waters.
Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit the devastated area as soon as possible, officials said.
In the town of Orihuela, 200 kilometers south of Valencia, the Segura river overflowed its bed. Valencia's meteorological service said 12 centimeters of rain fell in just six hours this morning in Orihuela.
Due to the swollen river Segura, the police closed all the bridges that cross it in the city of Murcia as a precaution. Torrents of brownish water flow through the streets and wash away parked cars and blue ground floors of houses in many cities.
Local police, firefighters and rescuers, supported by the military, are responding to hundreds of calls for help. About 1.000 soldiers are deployed in that area. The emergency services of the Murcia area stated that they rescued 391 people from cars and flooded homes.
Some people were rescued by police helicopters from the roofs of buildings surrounded by water.
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