Rescuers on Friday raised the death toll in Spain’s worst floods for a generation to 205 as the government deployed more troops in an increasingly desperate search for survivors.
The organisation coordinating emergency services in the hardest-hit eastern Valencia region said 202 people had been confirmed dead there.
Officials in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia had already announced a combined three deaths in their regions.
Members of the security forces and soldiers are busy searching for an unknown number of missing people, many feared to still be trapped in wrecked vehicles or flooded garages.
The government is deploying an extra 500 troops to the stricken areas to bolster the 1,200 already on site for search, rescue and logistics tasks.
Authorities have repeated over and over, that more storms are expected. The Spanish weather agency issued alerts for strong rains in Tarragona, Catalonia, as well as part of the Balearic Islands.
Meanwhile, flood survivors and volunteers are engaged in the titanic task of clearing an omnipresent layer of dense mud.
Residents in communities like Paiporta, where at least 62 people died, and Catarroja, have been walking kilometres to Valencia to get provisions, passing neighbours from unaffected areas who are bringing carry water, essential products or shovels to help remove the mud.
Valencia was meant to host the final MotoGP of the season but organisers announced on Friday that a new venue was being sought due to the flooding.
