Spain floods: Rescuers search for victims as death toll rises to 158

Three days of mourning begin after up to a year's worth of rain fell in a few hours in Valencia

Rescuers searched fields and stranded cars in the Valencia region of Spain on Thursday for people missing in floods that have wreaked havoc, killing dozens, amid fears the death toll will rise.

Spain’s worst flooding in decades, caused by rainstorms that started on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday, left towns submerged in muddy water with overturned cars scattered in the streets.

Authorities confirmed on Thursday that the death toll had reached 158 and they are continuing to search for an unknown number of missing people.

“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” said Transport Minister Oscar Puente.

Regional authorities said late on Wednesday that no one appeared to be still stranded on rooftops or needing to be rescued from cars after helicopters saved about 70 people. “Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so we can help end the suffering of their families,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said after meeting with regional officials and emergency services in Valencia on Thursday, the first of three official days of mourning.

About 1,000 troops joined police and firefighters to search for bodies. The toll will rise because “there are many missing people”, Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said on Wednesday.

Spanish floods – in pictures

Up to a year's worth of rain fell on Valencia in a matter of hours, with the national weather service saying it rained more there in eight hours than in the previous 20 months, calling the deluge “extraordinary”. Authorities said Paiporta had been devastated with about 40 people dead, including a mother and baby swept away by a torrent.

At dawn on Thursday, tens of thousands of homes were still without electricity and drinking water and many roads were blocked by hundreds of overturned cars and lorries. Emergency services carried out 200 rescues on the ground and 70 aerial evacuations on Wednesday, said Valencia regional government chief Carlos Mazon.

Valencia's emergency services had announced a provisional death of 92, adding that bodies were still being recovered. Two people died in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and another victim was reported in Andalusia in the south, officials said.

Located south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast, Valencia is a tourist destination known for its beaches, citrus orchards and for originating the rice dish paella. The region has gorges and small riverbeds that spend much of the year completely dry but quickly fill with water when it rains. Many of them pass through populated areas.

King Felipe VI said he was “devastated” by the disaster and offered “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the victims.

Damage to telephone networks and flooded roads hampered efforts to reach stricken communities but rescuers' access to all urban centres was restored by Wednesday evening, Mr Mazon said. Some 155,000 homes were without electricity in the Valencia region due to the storm, energy company Iberdrola said.

The European Union activated its Copernicus satellite system to help co-ordinate Spanish rescue teams, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels. The bloc has also offered to use its civil protection mechanism to send further reinforcements, she said.

Valencia before and after the floods

Officials in the Valencia region said survivors were being sheltered in temporary accommodation such as fire stations. Rail and air transport remained severely disrupted. The high-speed line between Valencia and Madrid will be suspended for at least four days, the Adif rail infrastructure authority announced.

The flood toll is Spain's deadliest since 1973 when at least 150 people were estimated to have died in the south-eastern provinces of Granada, Murcia and Almeria.

Scientists have warned that extreme weather events such as the storm that hit Valencia are becoming more intense, last longer and occur more frequently as a result of human-induced climate change.