Spain floods kill 72 including five OAPs who drowned in care home and people who left to move cars but ‘never returned’
Date: 2024-10-30FIVE OAPs have died in Spain’s catastrophic floods after they tragically drowned in a care home.
Heartbreaking footage shows the flooded retirement home in Valencia, with senior residents scrambling for balance in the muddy water.
The vicious rainfall began at lunchtime on Tuesday, wreaking havoc from the provinces of Malaga in the south to Valencia in the east.
Tragically, a baby was listed as one of the casualties by officials on Wednesday, with a reported national death toll now sitting at 72.
It is the worst flood-related natural disaster to hit Spain in almost 30 years – after flooding in 1996 killed 87.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gave an emergency briefing this morning saying: “Our thoughts go out to those whose homes and possessions have been devastated and whose lives have been covered in mud.
“We are united and we will rebuild your streets and your squares and bridges. Spain will be with you.”
He sent his condolences to those who lost loved ones in the flood but warned that the “devastating event” might not be over yet as forecasters predict more storms tomorrow.
President of the Valencia region Carlos Mazon said in a chilling statement: “There are bodies and bodies continuing to appear in places we hadn’t been able to access before.”
Officials have said it is “Impossible” to put a definite number on the amount of people killed.
Images showed soldiers and emergency workers rescuing people trapped in their homes or cars.
In some places, rescue services used helicopters to hoist people to safety.
A severe weather warning has been issued in Catalonia, northern Spain, marking a move away from the hard-hit southern and eastern regions.
Meteocat, the Catalan weather service, has warned of hail that could be as big as two centimetres and possible tornadoes or waterspouts.
Their warning sits at a level six – the highest possible.
And a rare red weather alert has been put out for Campina gaditana, in southern Spain, some 400 miles away from Valencia, until 12am local time.
It advises only essential travel and warns that “extreme or catastrophic damage to properties may occur”, with a “threat to life”.
DEVASTATION ON THE GROUND
Videos shared by Spanish broadcasters show floodwater rising into the lower levels of homes and even carrying cars through the street.
Drivers posted videos online showing horrific conditions on the roads, with many abandoning their vehicles as the water rose.
One clip showed an entire lorry being toppled by a tornado captured on dashcam footage.
Chiva, a town near Valencia, was pummelled by more than a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours.
There were fears the Cirat-Vallat dam – in Castellon, north of Valencia, could burst with officials putting out a warning after they couldn’t open the gates on Wednesday morning.
The nearby town of Vila-real activated its emergency protocol, ordering those with houses near the Mijares River to evacuate.
Mayor of Horno de Alcedo, a town just outside Valencia, told the BBC that the entire town was “flooded in minutes”.
She said they had been “cut off” and left “isolated” after the floods.
Letur’s mayor Sergio Marin told Spanish TV: “We couldn’t have predicted anything like this was going to happen. It’s a major catastrophe.”
And Ricardo Gabaldn – mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia – told national broadcaster RTVE that people in his town were “trapped like rats”.
He said: “Cars and trash containers were flowing down the streets.
“The water was rising to three meters.”
In Massannassa, on Valencia’s outskirts, a man died after getting trapped in a lift as he made his way to a flooded underground car park beneath his apartment to check on his vehicle.
Around 600 people were trapped in the Bonaire mall, Valencia’s largest shopping centre last night, after ground-floor flooding.
Elsewhere, in the Spanish city of AlmerÃa cars were destroyed by giant golf ball-sized hailstones that fell from the sky as a violent storm passed over last night.Â
Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia said they were devastated by the flooding.
They said: “Strength, courage and all the necessary support for all those affected.
“Our warmest message and recognition to local and regional authorities and all emergency services, armed forces and state security forces and corps for the titanic work they have been doing from the very beginning.”
Why was Spain hit by flooding?
Spain was hit by flash floods after the east of the country was hit by a meteorological phenomena known as a ‘DANA’.
A DANA, or a ‘cold drop’ is technically a system where there is an isolated depression in the atmosphere is at high levels.
In layman’s terms, more warm and moist Mediterranean air than usual was sucked high into the atmosphere after a cold system hit the country from the south.
The easterly wind then pushed all those clouds and rain into eastern Spain.
Three to four months of rain fell in some places over the space of 24 hours.
The DANA system hit southern Spain as it arrived from Morocco yesterday and is now expected to head west over southern Portugal.
