- The authorities estimate that the number of deaths may increase, due to the number of missing people | Photo: EFE
The number of deaths from the floods in the Valencian Community in Spain rose to 202 on the morning of Friday, November 1. The authorities have carried out 4,500 rescues, but until now there is still an undetermined number of missing people and the emergency continues.
According to data from the current deployment of the Civil Guard, more than 2,466 officials have been deployed distributed across the different emergency services. Thousands of volunteers have also arrived in the affected areas, but government representatives have asked them to leave due to the collapse of access roads.
The president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, said that they will do everything necessary to prevent citizens from hindering the work of the emergency services.
The latest count provided by the Generalitat Valenciana Emergencies – Valencian regional government – estimates that in the last hours the number of fatalities may increase.
One of the most affected towns in the province was Paiporta, just 10 kilometers from the Valencian capital, where the mortal remains of about 45 people were recovered. In other municipalities, such as La Torre and Castellar, 13 were counted.
Meanwhile, in the region of Castilla-La Mancha there are two deaths, although there are an undetermined number of missing people, in addition to significant damage.
In Andalusia, the victim is a British man who lived in Malaga and died shortly after arriving at the hospital, but the floods also affected an unknown number of people.
In fact, more than a thousand were rescued in different parts of the region.
Due to these events, the Spanish government decreed three days of mourning for the people who died. The measure will begin on October 31 until November 2.
Relatives of the missing ask for help
Relatives of the missing people in the municipalities most affected by the storm express their despair because they have no news about them and ask the authorities for help to locate them.
“The last time I spoke to my son was last night, he told me that the water reached his waist and he has not answered me again,” said a woman in an interview with the EFE news agency. He indicated that his son is Colombian and was working in Benetússer.
The father of another of the missing said that he has tried to contact his son, who at the time of the heavy rains was in Alfafar, where another of his daughters and his two grandchildren also live.
“I am trying to call him but there is no communication with him, and it is not possible either with the Police or with the Alfafar City Council,” he assured.
The kings of Spain will visit the most affected areas
The kings of Spain will travel this weekend to the areas most affected by DANA, and to do so they will contact the mayors of the municipalities that have suffered the most damage to organize their visit, Zarzuela sources have reported.
His visit will be carried out in such a way that the work being carried out by the emergency services, the local police, the State Security Forces and also the Armed Forces and social organizations is not interfered with, according to sources.
Furthermore, Zarzuela has confirmed that tonight a first group of 50 members of the Royal Guard will leave for the affected areas to provide help, following instructions from the head of state, to whom another 50 colleagues will join tomorrow.
The most serious floods in the last 75 years in Spain
The floods caused by torrential rains between October 29 and 30 in the Spanish regions of the Valencian Community and Castilla-La Mancha and which have caused dozens of deaths are the greatest tragedy caused by rains so far this century and are counted among the most serious in the last 75 years.
To find a disaster of similar proportions in the Valencian Community we have to go back to 1982, when the overflowing of the Júcar river in Valencia and the failure of the Tous dam, in the east of the country, caused 38 deaths and the evacuation of 100 thousand people.
The worst in history in Spain
What is considered the largest hydrological catastrophe in Spain occurred on the night of September 25 to 26, 1962 in the Catalan region of Vallès Occidental, in the northeast, on which more than 200 liters per square meter fell in three hours. that caused a thousand fatalities.
This is the chronological list of the greatest tragedies caused by rains in Spain in the last 75 years:
-October 13, 1957: More than 80 people died when the Turia River overflowed as it passed through Valencia and 1,700 homes were destroyed. The flood determined the urban future of the city, which planned a new channel for the river with the aim of avoiding similar disasters.
-January 9, 1959: The overflow of the Vega de Tera dam flooded and devastated the Zamoran town of Ribadelago (center of the country) and caused the death of 144 of its 532 inhabitants.
-On the night of September 25 to 26, 1962, more than 200 liters per square meter fell in three hours in the Catalan region of Vallès Occidental, causing around 400 deaths, according to official figures of the time, although it is currently estimated that There were at least a thousand fatalities, half of them in Terrassa and Rubí, in the province of Barcelona. The absence of a census at the time prevented accurate accounting.
-October 22, 1965: The overflow of the Torrejón el Rubio dam, in Cáceres (west of the country), caused 50 deaths. The catastrophe took place during the construction works of the Torrejón-Tajo and Torrejón-Tiétar reservoirs.
-October 19, 1973: The intense rains, with up to 600 liters per square meter, cause devastating floods in the provinces of Granada, Murcia, Almería and Alicante (southeast) and leave more than 150 dead, many of them in a market in Puerto Lumbreras (Murcia) and a half hundreds missing.
– October 20, 1982: The overflowing of the Júcar river in Valencia and the failure of the Tous dam caused 38 deaths and the evacuation of one hundred thousand people.
– August 1983: A total of 34 people die in the Basque Country (north) in the floods caused by torrential rains that also affected Cantabria, Navarra, Burgos and Asturias, also to the north, and which together caused six dozen deaths. and enormous material damage.
– 7 August 1996: 87 dead and 200 injured when they were buried by a flood of water, stones and mud, after a storm, which devastated the “Virgen de las Nieves” campsite, near Biescas, in the Pyrenees of Huesca, in the north.
With information from EFE
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#Death #toll #Spain #worst #floods #century #country
Of the dam and resulted in significant destruction in the surrounding areas.
-November 2, 1982: The overflowing of the Júcar River due to heavy rainfall in Valencia caused 38 deaths and led to the evacuation of around 100,000 people. This event highlighted the vulnerability of the region to extreme weather conditions.
-October 29-30, 2024: Recent floods caused by torrential rains in the Valencian Community and Castilla-La Mancha claimed dozens of lives and are now considered one of the deadliest in recent history, marking a tragic chapter in Spain’s meteorological events.
Authorities are urging residents in affected areas to remain vigilant and cooperate with emergency services as recovery efforts continue. The impact of these floods serves as a stark reminder of the importance of disaster preparedness and infrastructure resilience in the face of climate change and extreme weather patterns.
As Spain grapples with these unprecedented weather events, it is essential for communities and governments to work together to implement measures that enhance their ability to respond to such natural disasters and safeguard the lives of all citizens.
