Spain floods death toll rises to 205 as maps, satellite images reveal Valencia’s impact and residents’ reactions

Chiva, Spain – Number of deaths from history floods in Spain it rose to at least 205 people on Friday, with many more believed to be missing, as the initial shock led to anger, frustration and a wave of solidarity. Spain’s emergency authorities said 202 victims were in the Valencia region alone, and officials warned more rain was expected in the coming days.

The damage caused by the storm on Tuesday and Wednesday recalled the aftermath of the tsunami, with survivors left picking up the pieces as they mourned the loved ones lost in Spain’s deadliest natural disaster.

Many roads were still blocked by vehicles piled up with debris, and in some cases, residents were trapped in their homes.

Some areas still do not have electricity, running water, or stable telephone connections.

“It’s a disaster and there’s very little help”

“The situation is unbelievable. It is a disaster and there is very little help,” said Emilio Cuartero, a resident of Masanasa, on the outskirts of Valencia. “We need machines, cranes, to make the places accessible. We need a lot of help, and bread and water.”

In Chiva, residents were busy on Friday removing rubbish from the muddy streets. The city of Valencia received more rain in eight hours on Tuesday than in the previous 20 months, and water flooded a canal that runs through the city, destroying roads and walls of houses.

The mayor, Amparo Fort, told RNE radio that “all the houses have disappeared, we don’t know if there were people inside or not.”

So far 205 bodies have been found – 202 in Valencia, two in the region of Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia. Members of the security forces and the military are busy searching for an unknown number of missing people, many of whom are feared to be trapped in wrecked cars or flooded garages.

“I’ve been there all my life, all my memories are there, my parents live there … and now in one night everything is gone,” Chiva resident Juan Vicente Pérez told the Associated Press near where he lost his home. “If we had waited another five minutes, we wouldn’t be here on earth.”

Maps showing the extent of flooding in Spain, where more rain is predicted

Before and after satellite images of the city of Valencia showed the extent of the disaster, showing the transformation of the Mediterranean metropolis into a swamp filled with mud. The V-33 highway was completely covered in a thick brown layer of mud.

Maps posted online by Spain’s National Meteorological Agency, on the other hand, show less rain in the most affected areas.

One image showed some areas west of the city of Valencia, including Chiva, receiving more than 325 millimeters, or more than a foot of rain, on Oct. 29 only. The significant change in the region of Valencia was between five and seven inches on the same day.

As authorities have repeatedly said, more storms were expected. The Spanish weather agency issued warnings on Friday about heavy rains in Tarragona, Catalonia, and part of the Balearic Islands and western Andalusia in the southwest of the country.

Residents complain about the lack of help and lack of early warning

The tragedy created a wave of solidarity in the area. Residents in communities like Paiporta – where at least 62 people have died – and Catarroja have been walking miles through sticky mud to Valencia to get supplies, passing neighbors from unaffected areas who bring water, essential products and shovels or brooms to help clear the mud. . The number of people coming to help is so high that the authorities have asked them not to drive there because they are blocking the roads needed by the emergency services.

In addition to volunteer donations, organizations such as the Red Cross and city councils distribute food.

Meanwhile, flood survivors and volunteers are busy with the massive task of removing the thick layer of mud that has spread across the area. The storm knocked out power and water services Tuesday night, but about 85% of the 155,000 affected customers had power restored by Friday, the company said in a statement.

“This is a tragedy, there are many old women who don’t have medicine, there are children who don’t have food, we don’t have milk, we don’t have water, we can’t access anything. ,” a resident of Alfafar, one of the hardest-hit towns south of Valencia, told state TV channel TVE. “No one came to warn us on the first day.”

Juan Ramón Adsuara, the mayor of Alfafar, said aid was not enough for residents trapped in “a very bad situation.”

“There are people living with dead bodies in their homes. It is very sad. We are organizing them but we are running out of everything,” he told the media. “We go to Valencia with vans, we shop and come back, but here we have completely forgotten.”

Rushing water turned narrow roads into death loops and caused rivers to pass through homes and businesses, leaving many homeless.

Some shops were looted and the authorities arrested 50 people.

Social media conveyed the needs of those affected. Some posted pictures of missing people in the hope of getting information about their whereabouts, while others started programs like Suport Mutu – or Mutual Support – which combines requests for help with people who provide it. Others are organizing nationwide fundraisers or creating fundraisers.

The role of climate change in the Spanish flood disaster

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to raining autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the worst flood in recent memory. Scientists link it to it climate changewhich is responsible for the increase in temperature and drought in Spain and the heating of the Mediterranean Sea.

Human-caused climate change has doubled the likelihood of a storm like this week’s flooding in Valencia, according to an analysis released Thursday by the World Weather Attribution, a group of international scientists who conduct research. the role of global warming in extreme weather.

Spain has been dealing with a drought that lasted almost two years, making this flood worse because the dry land was too dry to absorb the rain.

In August 1996, floods swept away a camp on the Gallego River in Biescas, in the northeast, killing 87 people.