More rain forecast as 500 extra troops mobilised in Spanish flood disaster
Fri 1 Nov 2024 10.42 GMT
Residents in Spain’s Valencia region have been warned to brace for more rain, days after rivers of mud-coloured waters left a trail of devastation and as an additional 500 soldiers were earmarked to help with the rescue operations.
On Friday, the state weather agency AEMET said that four regions, including Valencia, remained under amber alert because of the risk of rains and storms.
One day earlier it had warned that the adverse weather conditions were expected to continue in the coming days. “We’re going to send a clear message,” the agency wrote on social media. “The meteorological emergency is not over. The storm still continues over Spain.”
The warning came as the death toll climbed to at least 158 people in what is the deadliest episode of flooding in the Spain’s modern history.
Days after the flash floods coursed across parts of the country, sweeping away bridges, cars and streetlights, the number of missing people remains unknown.
The majority of those reported killed have been in the Valencia region, where earlier this week more than 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response unit were deployed to bolster the efforts of local emergency services.
On Friday, Spain’s defence minister, Margarita Robles, said another 500 soldiers were being sent to the region and that more could be sent if needed. “Their missions include helping to dig out people who may be in basements or lower floors – unfortunately there are a lot of them – and helping to pump out water [from roads] to allow transportation so that food and water can reach certain populations.”
A mobile morgue had also been deployed, along with psychologists, as well as specialised teams capable of locating bodies. “This is a horrible tragedy,” she told broadcaster RTVE. “One has to keep in mind that this is a storm that is unprecedented, not just in this century but even in the last.”
The situation remains dire in many of the affected areas. Thousands remain without access to water or reliable food while parts of the heaviest-hit areas remain inaccessible.
In the municipality of Alfafar, south of the city of Valencia, the mayor appealed for help. Days after a deluge of muddy water had destroyed homes, swept away cars and cut off access to part of the town of 22,000 people, Juan Ramón Adsuara said there has been little sign of firefighters, soldiers or national police.
Instead it had been left to residents and local police to do what they could. Some had been using their own machinery to try and clear out part of the municipality that remained inaccessible, while others were risking the roads to drive to Valencia in order to bring supplies.
“We’ve had to empty a supermarket to distribute food among the population,” he said. “Please, we’re asking for help. We’re running out of everything.”
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