Spain: Satellite images show extent of Valencia flooding
Shocking aerial photographs show the sheer devastation inflicted upon Valencia after Spain’s deadly floods, which have left at least 158 people dead.
Pictures taken yesterday afternoon (October 31) reveal the aftermath of what is the country’s biggest natural disaster in living memory, with hundreds of vehicles trapped in mud, some upended, on a busy road.
Also yesterday, rescue workers searched for bodies in stranded vehicles and waterlogged buildings with fears the death roll is set to rise significantly, with many people missing.
As things stand, 155 fatalities have been confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone.
The devastation from Tuesday night and early Wednesday resembled the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces while mourning their loved ones.
READ MORE: Satellite images show extent of Valencia flood disaster
Aerial pictures show scores of cars trapped in the mud in Valencia (Image: GETTY/Maxar)
Cars were stacked atop each other like dominoes, while uprooted trees, felled power lines, and household items lay stuck in mud which engulfed streets across numerous communities in Valencia, a region south of Barcelona along the Mediterranean coast.
The powerful flash flood is being linked to climate change, which is also driving rising temperatures and droughts in Spain and the warming of the Mediterranean Sea.
Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said: “Unfortunately, there are deceased individuals inside some vehicles.”
Rushing waters transformed narrow streets into death traps, creating rivers that tore through homes and businesses, sweeping away cars, people, and anything in their path. The floods destroyed bridges and left roads unrecognisable.
Luis Sanchez, a welder, recounted saving several people trapped in their cars on the flooded V-31 motorway south of Valencia city
Floodwater stands in front of a McDonald’s after recent flash flooding (Image: Getty Images)
.He said: “I saw bodies floating past. I shouted, but there was no response.
“The firefighters took the elderly first, when they could get in. I’m from the area, so I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying everywhere; they were trapped.”
Rescue helicopters saved about 70 people stranded on rooftops and in cars, but ground crews still had much work ahead, regional authorities said on Wednesday.
Angel Martínez, one of 1,000 soldiers assisting with rescue efforts, speaking to Spain’s national radio RNE from the town of Utiel, where at least six people perished, said: “We’re searching house by house.”
Rescuers were seen removing seven body bags from an underground garage in Barrio de la Torre.
People walk by cars and trucks that were among the debris swept up in the floods (Image: Getty Images)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaking after meeting with officials and emergency responders in Valencia yesterday, explained: “Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so that we can help ease the suffering of their families.”
He added: “This storm front is still with us. Stay at home, heed official advice, and you will help save lives.”
Human-driven climate change has doubled the likelihood of storms like this week’s deluge in Valencia, according to a rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution, a group of international scientists who study global warming’s impact on extreme weather.
Spain has endured an almost two-year drought, so when the deluge struck, the hardened ground could not absorb the rain, leading to flash floods.
The violent weather caught regional officials by surprise. Spain’s national weather service reported that more rain fell in eight hours in the Valencian town of Chiva than in the previous 20 months combined.
One man wept as he showed a reporter from national broadcaster RTVE the shell of what was once the ground floor of his home in Catarroja, south of Valencia.
It looked as though a bomb had detonated inside, destroying furniture and belongings and stripping paint from the walls.
In Paiporta, Mayor Maribel Albalat said at least 62 people had died in the community of 25,000 near Valencia city.
He told RTVE: “Paiporta never floods, we never have this sort of problem. We found many elderly people in the town centre. There were also a lot of people trying to get their cars out of their garages … it was a terrible trap.”
Though Valencia city’s surroundings bore the brunt of the suffering, the storms wreaked havoc across large parts of the south and eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Two fatalities were confirmed in the neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha region, and one in southern Andalusia.
Greenhouses and farms across southern Spain, known as Europe’s garden for its produce exports, were also devastated by heavy rains and flooding. The storms spawned a freak tornado in Valencia and a hailstorm that left holes in cars in Andalusia. Water supplies were disrupted as far southwest as Malaga in Andalusia.
Some 150,000 people in Valencia were without power on Wednesday, though roughly half had electricity by Thursday. An unknown number were without running water, relying on whatever bottled water they could find.
