The streets of Valencia after the flooding. Picture: Christina Jeurling Birro/Twitter (X)
At least 95 deaths have been reported in the deadliest flooding to hit Spain for 30 years after torrential rain smashed the eastern region of Valencia on Tuesday (local time).
Rescuers in dinghies worked through the night to scour the floodwaters, taking several people to safety in the town of Utiel, footage showed.
Meteorologists said a year’s rain fell in the space of eight hours in parts of Valencia, battering farms in a region responsible for almost two-thirds of citrus fruit grown in Spain, one of the globe’s top producers.
One survivor told of how he had spent the night trapped in a service station where he worked as the water rose, and how other people climbed onto the roofs of their cars.
Carlos Mazon, the regional leader of Valencia, said some people remained isolated in inaccessible locations.
“If (emergency services) have not arrived, it’s not due to a lack of means or predisposition, but a problem of access,” Mazon told a press conference.
He added that reaching certain areas was “absolutely impossible”.
At least 62 people had died in Valencia while authorities in the central inland region of Castilla La Mancha said the storm, which has swept through much of Spain’s Mediterranean coast, had left two people dead and several missing.
Radio and TV stations received hundreds of calls for help from people trapped in flooded areas or searching for others.
TV footage showed firefighters rescuing trapped drivers amid heavy rain in the Valencian town of Alzira and flooded streets with stuck cars.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
Meteorologists believe the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.
Schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas.
Local emergency services requested the help of UME, a military unit specialised in rescue operations, in Utiel-Requena, where farmers’ association ASAJA said the storm had significantly damaged crops.
