At Least 63 Dead After Flash Floods Cause Devastation in Southern Spain
The death toll from Storm Dana is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue in outlying areas of Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha regions.
At least 63 people have died in flash floods in southern Spain after almost 24 hours of torrential rain.
Storm Dana has brought heavy rain to Spain’s Mediterranean coast and led to flooding in several towns on Tuesday, prompting the authorities to warn people to avoid all but essential travel.
The death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue in outlying areas.
In the village of Letur in Castilla-La Mancha region, the mayor, Sergio Marín Sánchez, said six people were missing.
“For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised speech on Wednesday.
“Our priority is to help you. We are putting all the resources necessary so that we can recover from this tragedy.”
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Sanchez has been in India on a mission to drum up trade.
His government has set up a crisis committee to help coordinate rescue efforts.
Footage shown on national television showed firefighters rescuing drivers trapped by the floods in the town of Alzira in Valencia region.
Earlier, the leader of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazon, said, “Dead bodies have been found, but out of respect for the families, we are not going to provide any further data.”
Spain’s state weather agency, AEMET, declared a red alert in the eastern Valencia region, and a train was derailed further west, in Andalucia.
The high-speed train, with nearly 300 people on board, derailed near Malaga, but nobody was hurt.
The derailment affected train services between Valencia and Madrid.
AEMET said more than 3.5 inches of rain had fallen in some areas in less than an hour.
On Wednesday, Ricardo Gabaldón, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia region, told the national broadcaster RTVE, “Yesterday was the worst day of my life.”
‘Trapped Like Rats’
He said: “We were trapped like rats. Cars and trash containers were flowing down the streets. The water was rising to three meters [almost 10 feet].”
Gabaldón said several people were missing in Utiel.
The rain had subsided by late Wednesday morning, but more storms were forecast for Thursday.
Christian Viena, a bar owner in the village of Barrio de la Torre, said: “The neighborhood is destroyed, all the cars are on top of each other, it’s literally smashed up.
“Everything is a total wreck, everything is ready to be thrown away. The mud is almost 30 centimeters [1 foot] deep.”
A car sits partially on top of another after heavy rainfall hit Llombai in Valencia, Spain, on Oct. 29, 2024. Eva Manez/Reuters
Schools and courthouses were closed in Carlet and some other towns in Valencia region.
UME, a military unit specializing in rescue operations, was brought into Utiel-Requena, where farmers association ASAJA said there had been significant damage to crops.
A hailstorm in the Andalucian city of El Ejido broke hundreds of car windscreens and damaged the area’s vast plastic greenhouses, in which fruit and vegetables are grown.
The Guadalorce river overflowed in the town of Alora, and 14 people had to be rescued by firefighters.
Videos and images of the flooding could be found all over social media, with one image showing a huge pile of cars blocking the main street in the town of Alfarfar, just south of the city of Valencia.
The final death toll could exceed the 200 who died in floods in Germany in 2021.
Southern Spain is still recovering from a severe drought during the summer.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
