One of the most striking images to emerge from Spain so far today shows firefighters pumping floodwater out of a tunnel where vehicles are piled high in Alfafar.
Elsewhere in the municipality, clean-up operations are under way along a mud-covered street.
In another of the worst-affected areas, Paiporta, people carry supplies to help clear away mud and debris.
Another 500 troops deployed in Valencia region
Spain’s Ministry of Defence has deployed a further 500 soldiers in the worst-affected region.
Some 1,200 troops had already been helping with rescue and clean-up operations.
They are working with the support of almost 400 vehicles, 20 helicopters, 18 drones and more than 50 dogs from the canine unit.
A team of psychologists is also in the area to attend to residents and soldiers working at the scene.
Firefighters siphoning petrol from cars to power generators
We’ve been reporting that many of the worst-hit communities have been left without electricity, running water or stable telephone connections.
Some 75,000 do not have electricity still, so firefighters have taken to siphoning petrol from cars abandoned in the floods to power generators.
“We’re going from car to car looking for any petrol we can find,” said one firefighter who had travelled to Valencia from the southern region of Andalusia to assist rescue efforts.
They were carrying a plastic tube and empty bottles to collect the petrol from the cars’ tanks.
Some residents have also been walking miles to Valencia to get provisions, passing neighbours from unaffected areas who are bringing water, essential products or shovels to help remove the mud.
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