After the army sent around 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clear the streets and protect shops and homes from looters, 2,500 more would now follow, Defense Minister Margarita Robles told state radio station RNE on Monday .
A warship with 104 marines will also bring trucks with food and water to Valencia. At the weekend, the anger of the people in the region affected by the storm was released when King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited the flood victims. The demonstrators threw mud at the royal couple and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The anger was primarily directed at the delayed warnings from the authorities and the supposedly delayed response of the emergency services.
Picture gallery: Angry reception for the royal couple in Spain‘s disaster region
SPAIN-FLOOD (Photo: MANAURE QUINTERO (AFP)) Bild 1/18
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Search in underground car parks
Emergency crews were still searching for bodies Monday in underground parking lots, including a 5,000-space parking garage at the Bonaire shopping center near Valencia airport, as well as at river mouths where currents may have landed bodies. No further dead were found in the Bonaire car park, radio station SER reported, citing the police.
Most recently, all eyes were on the shopping center in Aldaia, a suburb of the provincial capital Valencia. “The emergency services have already searched around 20 vehicles, but have not found any bodies,” said Aldaia Mayor Guillermo Luján on state TV station RTVE. Luján put some of the dramatizing reports in some media into perspective. “The parking lot was almost empty, we estimate there were fewer than 100 vehicles parked there at the time of the flooding.”
The torrential rains on Tuesday and Wednesday last week caused rivers to swell, flooded streets and ground floors of buildings, and swept cars and pieces of walls into floods of mud. It was the worst flood disaster in Europe in five decades.
Picture gallery: After devastating storms in Spain: the extent of the destruction becomes visible
CORRECTION-SPAIN-FLOODS (Foto: JOSE JORDAN (AFP)) Bild 1/27
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Warning for Barcelona
Although rain continued throughout the week, there was no further major flooding in the region. However, the weather service issued a warning for Barcelona on Monday morning because… Spain’s second largest city, hailstorms and heavy rains occurred. Transport Minister Oscar Puente said 15 flights were therefore diverted. The operation of the local trains had been stopped, he announced on X.
The official death toll from the flood disaster is 217 – 213 in the province of Valencia alone, which is also popular with holidaymakers. In addition, many people are still considered missing; there is still no official number. A few media outlets have been writing for days that 1,500, 2,000 or even 2,500 people are missing. However, there are no sources for these numbers. They are probably based on the emergency calls, some of which were received by the authorities at the beginning of the storm. “We cannot speculate,” said the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, on this issue. You have to proceed seriously.
Weeks of clean-up work
In the meantime, it is not only the remains of disappeared people that are being recovered. People reported missing keep turning up, most recently the pensioner Josefa, as police officer Iván García reported on RTVE on Monday. “She was at home the whole time but couldn’t be contacted.” There are also still “many people who are completely disoriented.”
The cleanup is expected to take many days and even weeks. The reconstruction is likely to take months. There should at least be no significant rainfall in the disaster area on Monday. Severe weather warnings from the weather service Aemet applied to parts of Catalonia in the northeast and Extremadura in the west of the country.
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in the west, but the situation appears to have stabilized otherwise.
authorities continue to assess the damage across affected regions and prioritize recovery efforts. in addition to providing aid to those displaced, governments near long beach, ca
In the west, but the situation appears to have stabilized otherwise.
Authorities continue to assess the damage across affected regions and prioritize recovery efforts. In addition to providing aid to those displaced, local governments are also initiating investigations into whether infrastructure improvements are necessary to prevent future disasters.
Public outcry has led to discussions about building regulations, drainage systems, and early warning systems. Some citizens have voiced their frustration concerning the preparedness of local authorities to handle such extreme weather events, especially given the fact that climate change has been linked to increasing weather anomalies.
While the immediate focus is on recovery and cleanup, officials are also stressing the importance of community support and solidarity during this crisis. Local volunteer organizations are mobilizing to help residents in need, and fundraising efforts are underway to assist those whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.
As the region grapples with the aftermath of these devastating floods, it will also be crucial for the government to communicate transparently with the public regarding the true scale of the disaster, especially in light of contrasts between unofficial missing person reports and the confirmed figures from authorities. Continued media scrutiny will likely play a vital role in how the story develops, pressing for accurate reporting and accountability in the wake of such tragedy.
The recovery process is set to be a long, arduous journey, but with coordination between government bodies, local communities, and civil society, there is hope for rebuilding stronger and more resilient against future natural disasters.
