LA ALCUDIA: At least 95 people have been killed in the deadliest flooding to hit Spain for three decades after torrential rain battered the eastern region of Valencia, sweeping away bridges and buildings, local authorities said on Wednesday (Oct 30).
Meteorologists said a year’s rain had fallen in eight hours in parts of Valencia on Tuesday, causing pile-ups on highways and submerging farmland in a region that produces two-thirds of the citrus fruit grown in Spain, a leading global exporter.
Residents in the worst-hit places described seeing people clambering onto the roofs of their cars as a churning tide of brown water gushed through the streets, uprooting trees and dragging away chunks of masonry from buildings.
“It’s a river that came through,” said Denis Hlavaty, who waited for rescue on a ledge in the petrol station where he works in the regional capital. “The doors were torn away and I spent the night there, surrounded by water that was 2 meters deep.”
Spain’s minister of regional affairs, Angel Victor Torres, told reporters the authorities were still unable to give a final number for all those still missing, suggesting the death toll was likely to rise further.
“This shows the tremendous magnitude of this tragedy,” he said.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised to rebuild infrastructure that had been destroyed and said in a televised address: “For those who at this moment are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you.”
Footage shot by emergency services from a helicopter showed bridges that had collapsed and cars and trucks piled on top of each other on highways between flooded fields outside the city of Valencia.
