Amid anger over authorities’ efforts to help those affected by the floods, Madrid City Council this morning sent around 30 emergency service personnel to Valencia.
They include 20 firefighters with six vehicles and 11 health workers from SAMUR-Civil Protection, along with several vehicles, including a mobile intensive care unit.
Their objective will be to drain flooded areas in buildings in Valencia and nearby areas, specifically in the Torre de Valencia neighbourhood, and to remove vehicles.
Warning as storms develop in Balearic Islands
Spain’s meteorological agency has urged caution in the Balearic Islands due to developing storms.
The islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera could be affected by large amounts of rain in a short period of time, it warned.
“Stay away from flood zones, ravines and gullies,” it added.
‘Hellish’ situation as cars revealed under receding flood water
Reporters swarmed the town of Aldaia, west of Valencia today. It’s a big place, not that far from the airport, and it has been brought to its knees.
What the media found was destruction on a grand, devastating scale. People were throwing possessions out into the street, creating a growing wall of random objects – wardrobes, toys, televisions, clothes and even dishwashers. All piled up, covered in mud.
On the streets, there are hundreds – probably thousands – of people who have come out to help. They are using everything possible to get rid of the water, using brooms, shovels, sticks and even large pieces of wood, all to try to funnel the water into drains.
Others are gathering mud into buckets, boxes and any container they can find. They then carry it to the Turia river that runs through the heart of the town.
The river is foul now, cluttered with debris but also stained with oil, fuel, and who knows what else. So many cars were tossed around by this flood and they have dropped their fluids all over the town. At one corner, there is the familiar smell of diesel bubbling through the mud.
It is hellish, and yet there is worse. We see an underpass, cutting beneath the road, and we walk carefully through the slippy, claggy mud to see it.
It is full of more debris, and there is oil swirling in the water, which is slowly being pumped out.
As the water recedes, cars are being revealed. We don’t know if there are people within them, but all the evidence, and all the conversations, we have had point to one conclusion – either these people abandoned their cars before the water hit, or they will have died.
Volunteers and locals help with clean-up
Spanish authorities have deployed 1,700 soldiers to help with clean-up operations – but locals and volunteers are also getting stuck in.
Wielding brooms and shovels, they have been clearing the mud left behind by the powerful flood waters in Paiporta, Valencia region.
Residents question timing of flood warnings
Grief has turned to anger for many in Spain today.
Some have accused Spanish authorities of being poorly prepared for the devastating floods and not warning people soon enough.
Valencia resident Hector Bolivar, 65, said a text message alert was only sent out at 8pm when the heavy rain began several hours earlier.
The president of Valencia’s regional government, Carlos Mazon, has said all protocols for disaster management were followed and that authorities began warning people from Sunday.
The death toll is the highest from floods in Europe since 1970, when 209 people died in Romania.
Red warning lifted in Spanish region
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has lifted the red warning for rain that was in place in Huelva.
The red alert – which is the maximum level – had been in place since early this morning.
Orange warnings have also been lifted in Castellon and Tarragona.
However, orange warnings for heavy rain remain in place for Huelva and the Balearic Islands.
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