VALENCIA – The deadliest flash floods in Spain’s modern history have killed at least 211 people, and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday.
In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed.
“It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime,” Sanchez said. “The government is going to mobilise all the resources necessary as long as they are needed.”
Hopes of finding survivors were boosted when rescuers found a woman alive after being trapped for three days in a car park in Montcada, Valencia. Residents burst into applause when civil protection chief Martin Perez announced the news.
In the meantime, volunteers gathered at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences for the first coordinated cleanup organised by regional authorities. The venue has been designated as the command centre for the operation.
The tragedy is already Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967, when at least 500 people died in Portugal.
The storm triggered a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe and elsewhere due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.
