2024-11-02 14:38:00
MADRID (AP) — Heavy rains in eastern Spain on Tuesday triggered flash floods that destroyed everything in their path in just minutes. With no time to react, people were trapped in vehicles, homes and businesses. Many died and thousands of lives were shattered.
Four days later, authorities 211 bodies were recoveredmainly concentrated in the eastern region of Valencia. The search is underway for an unknown number of missing people after the worst autumn rains in Spain’s modern history.
Thousands of volunteers are helping affected people clear the thick mud that has coated homes and streets littered with debris, while power outages, water outages and shortages of some basic products remain. There are still deaths to be confirmed in some vehicles that were dragged into piles by water or hit buildings.
Here are some facts about the tragedy:
The series of storms concentrated in the basins of the Magro and Turia rivers and the Poyo Gorge (towns such as Turis received more than 630 liters per square meter of rain in 24 hours), causing walls of water to overflow the river channels and causing some people to evacuate. Neighbors carrying on with their daily lives. Many people return home after get off work.
In the blink of an eye, muddy water covered roads, train tracks and entered homes and businesses in towns along the riverbed and in Valencia’s southern suburbs. Drivers converted their vehicles into boats and were forced to take shelter on rooftops, while residents tried to take shelter in higher places.
As authorities sent alerts to mobile phones warning people of the seriousness of the phenomenon and asking them to stay home, many were working on the roads or in low-lying areas or in garages flooded with water, which became death traps.
Why do these phenomena occur?
Scientists trying to explain what’s happening on the Levant coast have found two possible links to human-caused climate change. One is that warm air gets trapped, and then more rain falls. Another is possible changes in the jet stream (the flow of air above the Earth that drives weather systems around the planet), leading to extreme events.
Some climatologists and meteorologists believe the immediate cause of the flooding was a low-pressure storm system that broke off from an unusually choppy and stagnant jet stream. The system lingered over the area and brought heavy downpours. According to meteorologists, this happens so frequently that in Spain they have a specific name: High Level Isolation Depression, or DANA.
There are also unusually high temperatures in the Mediterranean. In mid-August, temperatures reached 28.47 degrees Celsius, breaking surface records, said Carola Koenig of the Center for Flood Risk and Recovery at Brunel University London.
This phenomenon will also occur in 2022 and 2023 after the country encounters a prolonged drought.
Has something similar happened before?
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this is the worst in living memory. The eldest man in Paiporta, ground zero for the tragedy, confirmed that Tuesday’s flooding was three times greater than in 1957, which killed at least 81 people and was the worst in the eastern tourist region’s history. The floods caused the Turia River to change its course, allowing much of the city to escape these floods.
Valencia suffered two other major DANAs in the 1980s, one in 1982 that killed about 30 people, and another five years later that broke rainfall records.
At least 158 people died, making it the deadliest natural disaster in Spain’s history, surpassing floods in August that destroyed campsites along the Biscás Gallego river in the northeastern province of Huesca and killed 87 people.
How has the government responded?
The crisis is rated Level 2 (Level 3) by the Valencian government and is managed by local governments, which can ask the central government to help mobilize resources.
At the request of Valencia’s President Carlos Masson of the conservative Popular Party, Socialist government president Pedro Sánchez announced on Saturday that 5,000 soldiers would join the rescue effort over the weekend to clear debris and distribute supplies.
Sanchez added that the government would also send another 5,000 national police officers to the region.
There are already about 2,000 soldiers on the ground from the Military Response Force, the Army’s first intervention force in the face of natural disasters and humanitarian crises, as well as nearly 2,500 National Guard agents who have carried out operations during the pandemic. 4,500 rescue operations.
As many affected said they felt abandoned by authorities, a wave of volunteers took to the streets to offer help. Thousands of people have walked kilometers in recent days armed with brooms, shovels, water and basic food, distributing supplies and collaborating to clean up the worst-affected areas.
Sanchez’s government is expected to approve a declaration of a disaster area on Tuesday, which will allow those affected to quickly receive financial aid. Mazón announced additional financial aid.
The Valencian government has previously been criticized for delays in sending mobile alerts.
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Associated Press writer Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
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**Interview with Dr. Elena Ruiz, Climate Scientist and Meteorologist**
**Interviewer:** Thank you for joining us, Dr. Ruiz. The recent storm DANA has had a devastating impact on eastern Spain, leading to tragic loss of life and destruction. Can you explain what DANA is and how it led to such severe flooding?
**Dr. Ruiz:** Thank you for having me. DANA, which stands for “Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos,” translates to upper-level isolated depression. It is a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a low-pressure system that breaks away from the usual jet stream patterns. In this case, the stagnant nature of the jet stream created a scenario where warm air accumulated over the region, causing excessive rainfall over a short period. This was compounded by unusually high sea temperatures, making the conditions ripe for extreme weather.
**Interviewer:** It sounds like a perfect storm. What made this event particularly catastrophic compared to past storms?
**Dr. Ruiz:** Indeed, this was unprecedented in Spain’s modern history. The intensity of the rainfall—a staggering 630 liters per square meter in just 24 hours—was extraordinary. While Spain’s Mediterranean coast has experienced seasonal storms before, the severity of this DANA has been described as three times worse than the floods of 1957, which were previously seen as the benchmark for devastation. The combination of rapid accumulation of water and the inability of many to escape due to the timing of the flooding led to tragic outcomes.
**Interviewer:** Many have speculated about the role of climate change in such events. What’s the scientific consensus on this?
**Dr. Ruiz:** Climate change is indeed influencing weather patterns, including storms like DANA. Warmer air holds more moisture, leading to increased rainfall during storms. Furthermore, it is suggested that shifts in the jet stream—possibly intensified by climate change—are contributing to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. These phenomena are becoming more common, as we are seeing similar patterns emerge in the past few years.
**Interviewer:** Given the tragic loss of life and property, what measures can be taken to mitigate future disasters like this?
**Dr. Ruiz:** We need a multi-faceted approach. First, improving early warning systems could help save lives by ensuring timely alerts reach people in vulnerable areas. Additionally, enhancing infrastructure—including sustainable drainage systems—can reduce the impact of heavy rains. Educating communities about emergency preparedness and resilience in the face of climate change is also crucial. Ultimately, addressing the root causes through climate policy, such as reducing carbon emissions, is vital for long-term prevention.
**Interviewer:** Thank you for your insights, Dr. Ruiz. The situation in Spain is heartbreaking, and your expertise helps shed light on the complexity of these tragic events.
**Dr. Ruiz:** Thank you for having this important conversation. My thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster.
