The death toll from catastrophic floods in eastern Spain rose to 158, authorities said on Thursday, making it the country’s deadliest flooding in modern history.
Valencia’s regional authorities reported 155 deaths, with three more in Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia regions. Defence Minister Margarita Robles warned the toll could rise further as some areas remain inaccessible to rescue teams.
Over 1,200 troops joined emergency workers on Thursday, clearing mud-caked towns and using helicopters to reach stranded survivors after Tuesday’s devastating rainfall, which saw parts of Valencia receive a year’s worth of rain in eight hours.
Controversy erupted over the timing of emergency alerts, with residents claiming they received mobile warnings only at 8 p.m. Tuesday, hours after severe flooding had begun and the national weather service Aemet had issued its highest-level red alert.
“Those people wouldn’t have died if they had been warned in time,” Laura Villaescusa, a Valencia suburb resident, told Reuters.
While opposition politicians criticised the socialist-led government’s response, the interior ministry said regional authorities were responsible for civil protection measures. Valencia’s regional president Carlos Mazon defended his administration’s handling of the crisis.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente reported extensive damage to about 80 kilometres of roads, with many blocked by abandoned vehicles containing casualties. The high-speed rail link between Madrid and Valencia could take up to three weeks to restore.
Scientists attribute the intensity of the floods to the “cold drop” phenomenon – when cold air meets warm Mediterranean waters – and say climate change is increasing the severity of such extreme weather events.
The disaster surpasses Spain’s 1973 floods, which killed 150 people in Granada, Murcia and Almeria provinces.
(With information from Reuters)
