Houses, schools flooded, cars washed away as storms cause havoc in Spain - at least 223 dead, 78 missing - year's rain in 8 hours (UPDATES)

Ignacio Lillo, Julio Portabales
surinenglish.com
Tue, 29 Oct 2024 12:48 UTC

Torrential rain in the upper Guadalhorce area of Malaga province has left dozens of houses and schools flooded in Álora and Pizarra this Tuesday morning. The downpours have also caused several cars parked near the river to wash away and float downstream.

It comes as 100mm of rain was dumped on the upper Guadalhorce during the early hours of this Tuesday morning, according to the Junta de Andalucía's Hidrosur network, with rain continuing throughout the morning.

The worst affected area is the lower area, around the Estación de Álora neighbourhood, where emergency services are having difficulty accessing and rescuing residents who have been cut off from their homes. The Valle del Sol secondary school in the same area has suspended classes due to flooding.

The storm is also severely impacting the neighbouring town of Pizarra, where numerous buildings, including most of the schools, the morgue and the town hall, have experienced flooding. The Camino Villalón has also been closed due to rising water levels, leaving the road impassable. Local authorities are managing the situation, responding to emergencies and assessing damage. The area remains on alert for possible further incidents caused by the storm.

Comment: Update October 30

Reuters reports:

At least 72 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.

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 metres (6.5-feet) deep."

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.

Trains to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona were cancelled due to the flooding, and schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas, officials said.

Power company i-DE, owned by Europe's biggest utility, Iberdrola, said about 150,000 clients in Valencia had no electricity.

Emergency services in the region urged citizens to avoid all road travel and to follow further official advice, and a military unit specialised in rescue operations was deployed in some places to help local emergency workers.

Some parts of Valencia such as the towns of Turis, Chiva or Bunol recorded more than 400 mm (15 inches) of rainfall, leading the state weather agency AEMET to declare a red alert on Tuesday. It was lowered to amber on Wednesday as the rain eased.

There was also flooding in other parts of the country, including the southern region of Andalusia, and forecasters warned of more bad weather ahead as the storm moved in a northeasterly direction.

The regional weather service in Catalonia issued a red alert for the area around Barcelona, warning of high winds and hail, while the AEMET state agency placed the city of Jerez in Andalusia on red alert.

"(The floodwaters) took away lots of dogs, lots of horses, they took away everything," said Antonio Carmona, a construction worker and resident of Alora in the southern region.

DEADLIEST SPANISH FLOODS SINCE 1996

The death toll appeared to be the worst in Europe from flooding since 2021 when at least 185 people died in Germany.

It is the deadliest flood-related disaster in Spain since 1996, when 87 people died near a town in the Pyrenees mountains.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that Europe was ready to help. "What we're seeing in Spain is devastating," she said on X.

ASAJA, one of Spain's largest farmer groups, said on Tuesday it expected significant damage to crops.

Spain is the world's largest exporter of fresh and dried oranges, according to trade data provider the Observatory of Economic Complexity, and Valencia accounts for about 60% of the country's citrus production, according to Valencian Institute of Agriculture Investigations.

Update October 31

Al Jazeera reports:

Spain floods death toll rises to 158 as rescuers search for survivors

The death toll from Spain's worst floods in decades has soared to 158, emergency services and officials say, as rescue services work frantically to find survivors.

The body coordinating rescue work in the eastern region of Valencia announced on Thursday that 155 bodies had been recovered there. Officials in Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain reported two deaths, and Andalusia in the south announced one.

The widespread damage resembled the aftermath of a hurricane or tsunami. Cars were piled on top of one another like fallen dominoes. Uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items were all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in Valencia. The floods demolished bridges and left roads unrecognisable.

Local authorities have not disclosed how many people are still unaccounted, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles said the final national death toll could be much greater.

Opposition politicians accused the central government in Madrid of acting too slowly to warn residents and send in rescue teams, prompting the Ministry of Interior to say regional authorities were responsible for civil protection measures.

Update November 1

The Associated Press reports:

Death toll from Spanish floods rises to 205 as residents appeal for aid

Three days after historic flash floods swept through towns in Spain and killed at least 205 people, the initial shock was giving way to anger, frustration and a wave of solidarity on Friday.

Spanish emergency authorities raised the death toll to at least 205 victims, 202 of them in Valencia alone.

Many streets are still blocked by piled-up vehicles and debris, in some cases trapping residents in their homes. Some places still don't have electricity, running water, or stable telephone connections.

The damage from the storm Tuesday and Wednesday recalled the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces as they mourn loved ones lost in Spain's deadliest natural disaster in living memory.

Update November 9

ShiaWaves.com reports:

The confirmed death toll from last week's catastrophic floods in Spain has reached 223, Anadolu Agency reported yesterday citing an announcement made by Transport Minister Oscar Puente.

An additional 78 individuals remain missing, with 48 bodies yet to be identified. The floods, triggered by historic rainfall on October 29, particularly devastated the province of Valencia, where rivers overflowed, leading to widespread flooding that caught many residents off guard.

Despite prior warnings from some local mayors, the Valencian government issued an emergency alert only after the worst of the flooding had passed. In response to the disaster, protests are planned to voice frustration over the government's handling of the crisis.

Cleanup efforts are ongoing, affecting over 75 municipalities and approximately 450,000 hectares of land. Spain's government has committed €10.6 billion ($11.4 billion) in aid to support recovery efforts. The floods, caused by a prolonged storm system, also impacted other regions, including Cadiz, Barcelona, and Girona, marking one of the most significant natural disasters in recent Spanish history.

Two days earlier in the nearby Balearic Islands: Stormy night in Mallorca, Spain: Heavy rainfall, flash floods, road closures, 8 rescues and 77 emergency operations