The civil protection agency, which is overseen by the regional government, issued an emergency warning to the phones of people in and around the city of Valencia after 8:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday, by which time the floodwaters were fast. is growing in many areas and in some cases is already wreaking havoc.
Questions remain about warning times and whether Spain has an adequate disaster warning system.
Mireia, who lives near some of the destruction in Valencia, said people were “completely unprepared”.
“A lot of people were in their cars, they couldn’t get out,” she said. – They were simply drowned by water.
Thousands of volunteers are currently helping the Spanish military and emergency services with rescue and clean-up efforts, and Valencia regional president Carlos Mazon said more troops would be deployed.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took to social media to thank the volunteers, calling them “an example of the solidarity and boundless dedication of Spanish society”.
He promised that his government would do everything necessary to help those affected by the disaster.
In the devastated town of Paiport, where more than 60 deaths have been reported so far, residents have expressed frustration that aid has been slow to arrive.
“There aren’t enough firefighters, the shovels haven’t arrived,” Paco Clemente, a 33-year-old pharmacist who was helping clean up a friend’s house, told AFP.
Dozens of people have been arrested for looting, with one resident of Aldaya telling AFP he saw thieves grab goods from an abandoned supermarket because “people are a bit desperate”.
