Rescue efforts ongoing after more than 100 people killed in flooding in Spain | Spain

The search for missing people in the area hit by torrential rain in Valencia, which claimed the lives of at least 92 people in the region, resumed on Thursday morning. A deployment of 1,000 members of the Military Emergency Unit, as well as thousands of Civil Guards, firefighters and police officers, are taking part in the search and rescue operation. The regional government of Valencia has announced an aid plan of an initial €250 million ($270 million), including €6,000 ($6,510) of direct aid to each victim, as well as transport subsidies or support for housing rehabilitation. Meanwhile, the weather front was still active and heavy rains are threatening two areas in particular on Thursday: the northeast, where there are orange alerts in place in the the north of Castellón province and southern Tarragona) and the southwest, where yellow warnings have been issued in the provinces of Cádiz, Huelva, and Seville in Andalusia, and throughout Extremadura in western Spain.

In the Maestrazgo region of Castellón, heavy downpours of up to 300 liters per square meter have fallen in a few hours in some areas. Thousands of people are still without electricity and the material damage is incalculable. There are still many roads cut off in Valencia, where thousands of cars remain stranded after being swept away by flooding, and the high-speed train service between Madrid and Valencia and the Mediterranean corridor to Barcelona is suspended, as well as most of the commuter trains in the city. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the leader of the opposition Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will visit the affected area Thursday. Three days have national mourning have been declared.

On Wednesday, the Spanish Ministry of Defense provided portable morgues amid fears that, as the mud inundating many towns in Valencia begins to be cleared, additional bodies may be discovered, raising the death toll with dozens of people reported missing. To assist in locating corpses, the Defense Ministry has mobilized aerial resources, military psychologists, and trained dogs. Videos of torrents of water sweeping away cars and people circulated rapidly through messaging apps and social media. However, these clips also played a crucial role in locating those trapped, assisting the efforts of the security forces.

Sánchez urged the public “not to let their guard down” as the weather phenomenon continues to wreak havoc across the country. Dozens of people spent Wednesday night stranded on trucks or cars, climbing onto the roofs of stores or gas stations, or trapped in their vehicles on impassable roads until they could be rescued.

Spain’s King Felipe VI expressed his condolences to the affected families and warned of the “enormous destruction” of infrastructure and material goods as a result of the storm. “There are still difficulties of access to some localities, so we do not have complete information on the extent and possible victims,” he said from Gran Canaria, where he is attending an air defense exercise. “I am reassured to know that all possible means available are at the disposal of the authorities and the emergency services.”

According to the premier of Valencia, Carlos Mazón, the rescue efforts were hindered by the sheer impossibility of reaching those in need. Firefighters and local police were joined by members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME). Even the security forces faced challenges; the Civil Guard barracks in Paiporta spent the night anxiously awaiting news about two of its agents who went missing. On Thursday, it was reported that one agent and the partner of another had died.

Mazón stated that there are no longer “rescuable people visible from the sky,” those who took shelter on rooftops or on the roofs of vehicles.

In the Valencia region, the heaviest rains impacted the interior of Valencia province, leading to several road closures — similar situations were been reported in Teruel, Andalusia, and Castilla-La Mancha — while many railway services remain suspended. Some highways had been made operational again by Thursday morning, but the authorities have recommended people avoid using vehicles where possible.

The extreme weather is the result of the gota fría — literally “cold drop,” a term used in Spain to describe a sudden drop in temperatures along the east coast caused by the arrival of very cold polar air. The cold drop in Valencia is the worst of the 21st century, comparable to those experienced in 1987 and 1982, specifically the Pantanada de Tous, according to the initial assessment provided by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) on its X profile.

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