Emergency service workers together with more than 1,200 troops combed thick silt in mud-caked towns and villages to find survivors and clear roads of debris, while rescuers used helicopters to winch survivors to safety in areas that were still flooded.
Meteorologists said a year’s worth of rain had fallen in eight hours in parts of Valencia on Tuesday. Television footage showed diggers and tractors fitted with water pumps clearing debris from streets piled high with abandoned cars and vans.
King Felipe VI warned the emergency was “still not over”, and the national weather service, Aemet, put parts of the Valencia region on the highest alert level for more torrential rain on Thursday.
Opposition politicians accused the central government of acting too slowly to warn residents to evacuate and send in rescue teams, prompting Spain’s interior ministry to say regional authorities were responsible for civil protection measures.
The Valencia regional president, Carlos Mazón, defended his administration’s management of the crisis. “All our supervisors followed the standard protocol,” he said.
Reuters and Agence-France Presse contributed to this report
