Rescue teams yesterday found the bodies of eight people trapped in a garage after devastating floods hit eastern Spain, while the death toll in the Valencia region alone reached 155. The country declared three days of mourning and flags were flown at half-mast.
Local authorities have not announced how many people are still missing after Europe's worst floods in years, and Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the final national death toll could be much higher.
Opposition politicians accused the central government in Madrid of reacting too slowly in warning the population and sending rescue teams, prompting the Interior Ministry to declare regional authorities responsible for civil protection measures.
The mayor of Valencia, María José Catala, told reporters that a local policeman was among the eight bodies found drowned in a garage in the city's suburb of La Torre. In the same neighborhood, she added, a 45-year-old woman was found dead in her home.
"These people would not have died if they had been warned in time," local resident Laura Vijaleskus told Reuters.
The president of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazon, defended his administration. "All of our regulatory bodies followed standard protocol," he said.
"We found the bodies of elderly people in their homes, as well as the bodies of people who went to get their cars. It was a trap," said Maribel Albalat.
State meteorological agency AEMET issued a red alert for the Valencia region on Tuesday morning, and it remained in effect as conditions worsened throughout the day. However, it was only after 20:XNUMX p.m. that the civil protection service sent a warning to residents not to leave their homes.
One man told the website Eldiario.es that the warning came while he was already trapped in his car, with water up to his chest. "It was only after 20:XNUMX p.m., after I was in water up to my neck for an hour and swallowing mud, that the alarm went off," he said.
Meteorologists said that on Tuesday in parts of Valencia, the amount of rain corresponding to the annual average fell in eight hours. The floods destroyed infrastructure in Valencia, washing away bridges, roads and railways and submerging farmland in a region that produces about two-thirds of the citrus grown in Spain and is one of the world's leading exporters of oranges.
Thousands of people with shopping bags or trolleys crossed the footbridge over the River Turia from La Torre towards the center of Valencia yesterday to stock up on essentials such as toilet paper and water.
Maribel Albalat, the mayor of the nearby town of Pajporta, said they had never received a warning about the imminent danger of flooding. She stated that 62 people died in her town.
"We found the bodies of elderly people in their homes, as well as the bodies of people who went to get their cars. It was a trap," she told TVE.
In Godeljeta, a town 37 km west of Valencia, Antonio Molina, 52, described how he survived Tuesday night's flash flood by clinging to a post on the porch of a neighbor's house, with water up to his neck, until the heavy rain finally stopped.
His wife and son were saved by moving to the upper floor of the house. Molina's house has already suffered two major floods, in 2018 and 2020, and he blames the authorities for allowing the construction of residential buildings in depressions where water accumulates.
"We don't want to live here anymore," he said through tears. "As soon as a few drops of rain fall, we are already checking our phones".
About 80 km of roads in the eastern region are seriously damaged or impassable, said Transport Minister Oscar Puente. Many roads are blocked by abandoned cars.
"Unfortunately, there are bodies of victims in some vehicles," Puente told reporters, adding that it would take two to three weeks to re-establish the high-speed train connection between Valencia and Madrid.
Visiting the center for the coordination of rescue operations near Valencia, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appealed to citizens to stay at home due to the threat of another storm.
"Right now, the most important thing is to save as many lives as possible," Prime Minister Sanchez told reporters.
Pope Francis said he is praying for the people of this region. "I am with them in this moment of disaster," he said in a video message posted on the X platform.
Given that climate change is linked to frequent extreme weather events, Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at the University of Reading in Great Britain, said the flooding in Valencia shows the need to educate people about the dangers.
"We saw that people were putting themselves in danger by driving on flooded roads, and the amount of water was so great that it completely flooded those places," she said.
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