By Emma Bubola, José Bautista and Lynsey Chutel
During one of the most severe flash floods seen in decades across eastern Spain, Diego Hernandez was traversing the city of Valencia en route to his mother’s funeral.
As he and his wife were driving on Tuesday night, a narrow stream of muddy water began to form beneath their tires. Before long, it rose to nearly 3 feet and was approaching the top of their seats. In a matter of seconds, another vehicle collided into theirs.
The couple escaped from their car, initially clinging to a tree as debris like trash cans, car wheels, couches, and chairs rushed past in the compulsive floodwaters.
“It felt apocalyptic,” he recounted.
They were far from isolated. Thousands of individuals found themselves ensnared — within cars, trucks, and homes — as torrential rain lashed southern Spain earlier this week.
The death toll rose to at least 158 people by Thursday. Others remain unaccounted for, and rescuers feared there could be more fatalities, as stated by Margarita Robles, Spain’s defense minister, while teams worked through the muck.
Some regions in eastern and southern Spain experienced up to a year’s worth of rainfall in just one day, or even within eight hours. Rain continued through Thursday morning as municipalities assessed the extent of the devastation.
Certain districts in Valencia and Catalonia, located on Spain’s eastern shore, stayed on high alert, anticipating further rainfall throughout the day, according to the national weather agency.
Thousands of households were without power or telecommunications, officials reported. More than a dozen municipalities indicated a lack of clean drinking water, as emergency services in Valencia announced.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Valencia, touring some of the most severely impacted areas after the government declared three days of national mourning. The leader of the principal opposition party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also made the trip to the affected locales.
“We will not abandon the people of Valencia,” Sánchez declared after visiting an emergency coordination center there. He urged residents to remain indoors, “since that will help save lives.”
Members of the Emergency Military Unit, civil guards, and police were involved in the search-and-rescue efforts, Sánchez noted.
King Felipe VI of Spain also directed the Royal Guard to assist in the search-and-rescue operation. “We all share in this common sorrow,” the king stated.
Officials from the emergency coordination center in Valencia confirmed at least 155 fatalities in the Valencia region alone. Regional authorities in Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia reported three deaths in those areas.
In and around Valencia, which serves as the regional capital, water streamed into ground-level apartments, trapping several individuals. Shopping malls, pet shelters, and even a nursing home were inundated, resulting in casualties among residents. Other victims were swept away in regions unaffected by rainfall, carried off by water that surged through.
On Wednesday, as coroners worked to identify the deceased, many of the hardest-hit villages remained isolated due to broken roads and bridges or inundation from the flash floods.
Numerous roadways remain closed, including major thoroughfares, as reported by the Civil Guard. Three subway lines in Valencia have been disabled, and train services, including a high-speed connection to Madrid, could be halted for as long as three weeks, stated Óscar Puente, the transport minister.
Evaluating the damage in Valencia, Puente remarked, “The entire regional road infrastructure has been severely compromised.”
Authorities have stationed security personnel to prevent looting. The national police announced the arrest of 39 individuals in one operation, recovering “a multitude of stolen items.”
Numerous trucks and cars were left abandoned on streets and highways, covered in thick layers of mud. Their owners were placed in temporary shelters, unable to return home. Dead bodies were trapped in several vehicles, the Transport Ministry reported.
Toni Zamorano, 59, sat outside a basketball hall in Valencia that had been converted into a shelter. He was driving home when his vehicle filled with water on Tuesday night. He pushed his door open and leaped into the water. Within moments, he noticed his car was entirely submerged and drifting away.
“I began swimming, walking, swimming,” he described. He found himself alone on a flooded highway stretch, with the water rising to his chest, as furniture, electronics, and vehicles floated past.
“Cars floated like boats,” he recalled. “I genuinely believed it was all over.”
Survivors of the flooding in Valencia will receive a minimum compensation of 6,000 euros (around $6,500), as part of a 250 million euro relief package announced by Carlos Mazon, the head of the Valencia region.
Hernandez, 56, was unable to attend his mother’s funeral. His wife eventually managed to hold onto a lamppost, while he was swept away. He attempted to grab floating tires and poles until he found a bus that was trapped in the current. The upper section of the bus remained dry, where he removed his wet clothes and wrapped himself in its curtains.
Around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, rescuers arrived for him. For hours, he had no knowledge of his wife’s fate.
Without his cellphone, none of the emergency personnel he spoke to had any updates. Hernandez and his wife had known each other since childhood and had been married for nearly 30 years.
Finally, on Wednesday morning, he reached out to his brother, receiving the news he longed for: She was safe. His brother mentioned that she scolded him for not holding onto the lamppost like she did.
If she was upset with him, “it’s an indication she is doing well,” Hernandez chuckled, as he stood smoking outside a sports hall, wearing a sweatshirt from the local basketball team that the rescuers had given him.
Inside, the eight courts had been converted into a refuge, with numerous mattresses arranged neatly beneath the backboards.
In Madrid, Ana de la Cuadra was desperately texting family members, who were trapped in Catarroja, a town in southern Valencia.
“They’ve warned that another surge of water might follow,” her sister, Cristina de la Cuadra, texted along with videos showing river water rushing down the street. “We are in a dire situation, without water or electricity.”
Shortly afterward, she powered down her phone to save battery life.
