The Spanish government has declared three days of mourning, starting tomorrow, Thursday, October 31, 2024, following flash floods in the country.
This was announced by Ángel Víctor Torres, the Minister responsible for territorial policy.
According to government sources, the number of fatalities has risen to at least 72 people.
Several people remain missing. Rescue operations continue across southern and eastern Spain but have been hindered by downed power lines that have cut off electricity as well as collapsed phone networks and roads that remain impassable.
“We are facing a very difficult situation. The fact that we can’t give a number of the missing persons indicates the magnitude of the tragedy.”
Ángel Víctor Torres
The country’s Defence Minister, Margarita Robles, said that more than 1,000 troops backed by helicopters were being deployed in the face of “an unprecedented phenomenon.”
Videos posted to social media showed police and rescue services using helicopters to lift people from their homes and rubber rafts to reach drivers stranded on top of cars.
The Mayor of a small town in the region of Valencia described the situation in her municipality, saying she had never seen anything like it in her life.
Consuelo Tarazona, the mayor of Horno de Alcedo, stated, “This is a disaster.”
“The whole town is flooded. Cars have been swept away, there’s a lorry in the middle of the highway. Walls have fallen, fences have fallen, everything has fallen.”
Consuelo Tarazona
While nobody in her town of 1,300 had died or gone missing, she said, “we went through a rough time.”
She noted that though the rain had subsided, the municipality continued to reel from the consequences of the storm.
“We still have a lot of water, we can’t get through,” she said. “We just had a fire in a paint factory and we’re dealing with toxic smoke … we received the emergency warning but never expected anything like this.”
Weather Agency Warns Of Strong Rains In Spain’s Northeast
AEMET, Spain’s state weather agency, said that it expects the intense rains in Valencia to subside today, but noted that parts of the region remain under alert.
The storm, however, was headed north, prompting warnings for the northeastern region of Catalonia. Heavy rainfall was also expected in parts of southern Spain.“Caution in the northeast of the peninsula and western Andalusia: very heavy showers may occur,” the agency wrote on social media.
Spain’s state weather agency raised the level of alert for western Andalusia, warning of “intense rains” in the area.
Previously it had issued an amber alert for the area around Jerez, a city in Spain’s south.
On Wednesday afternoon, the country’s environment ministry said that the area was now under a red alert. “That is the maximum level,” it noted on social media, describing the risk of danger as “extreme.”
Videos posted on social media showed people struggling to make their way through the city’s streets as they battled a deluge of rushing, mud-coloured water.
Local officials across Spain have warned residents to heed only official channels amid concerns about misinformation circulating on social media.
Carlos Mazón, the leader of the Valencia region, said that hoaxes had circulated about further flooding and evacuation orders being issued for municipalities He urged people to consult “only official channels.”
The city of Valencia also resorted to issuing a statement after misinformation on social media saw supermarket shelves quickly emptied of bottled water. “Drinking water is guaranteed in the city of Valencia and meets public health requirements. There have also been no cuts in the city’s network,” the statement noted.
The municipality of Manises in Valencia issued a direct appeal to residents. “Please do not spread false information,” it noted on social media.
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