Cars, houses and roads destroyed and repeated finds of bodies: after the floods in Spain, many feel abandoned by the State and the situation remains tense.03.11.2024 | 2:02 minutes
Spain’s King Philip VI and Queen Letizia really wanted to give comfort to the inhabitants of two particularly devastated places in the stormy areas near the Mediterranean metropolis of Valencia – and they were greeted with pure anger.
Others shouted “murderer” and “resign” or “grab a shovel and lend a hand,” as heard on television broadcasts. State television RTVE broadcast live and showed Queen Letizia talking to a visibly shaken woman with mud on her face, hands, hair and clothes. What could have been a comfort to Letizia was not listened to.
After the storms the number of deaths rises to 211. Countless people are missing. Tens of thousands of emergency services and around 15,000 volunteers are on site to help. 02.11.2024 | 1:56 min
Also King Philip VI. he tried to comfort the residents, even hugging two younger residents, RTVE showed. After the first mud throws, he continued his attempts and his security guards put up an umbrella to protect him. But eventually they took him to a safe place. Given the extremely tense situation, the planned visit to the city of Chiva has been postponed, as reported by RTVE.
Nearly 4,000 soldiers deployed
Spanish journalists commented that all the anger of people who felt abandoned by the state and state aid in the first hours and days after the storm had been unleashed. Many have lost everything, some are still waiting for food for their children or for the cars piled up in front of the houses and in the streets to be swept away by the masses of water.
Valencia on October 18th
The satellite image shows the city in Spain before heavy rains.
What: AFP
Numerous people are still considered missing: there is no official number yet, but some Spanish media even write that there are up to 2,000. Rescue work became increasingly intense, also thanks to the increase in the armed forces. By Saturday evening, more than 3,600 soldiers were deployed in locations near the city of Valencia. Sánchez had announced that he would increase the army there by another 5,000 soldiers and would also send 5,000 police officers.
Difficult search in flooded tunnels and underground parking lots
The search is particularly difficult in tunnels and underground car parks or flooded garages, as the water sometimes reaches up to the emergency services speakers, as can be seen in videos of the operations.
Thanks to many volunteers, the cleanup work is now making progress and electricity is largely working again. On Saturday, thousands were taken on buses from the city of Valencia to some villages, but some mayors, like in Chiva, no longer needed them, writes the “ABC” newspaper.
After the catastrophic floods, the number of victims increases and the extent of the destruction becomes increasingly visible. At the same time, the population’s willingness to help is great.01.11.2024 | 2:26 minutes
In the area to the west and south of the city of Valencia, much of the damage was caused mainly by a river: the otherwise dry bed had transformed into a raging torrent with Tuesday’s heavy rains and crossed several locations towards the sea.
Focus on the Andalusian province of Almería
Red was also applied in the southern part of the Valencia region on Sunday evening, while the second highest alert level, orange, was in force in other parts of the same region. On Tuesday, when the worst storms of this century hit the Valencia region, according to Aemet, the highest alert level was red. So far, 210 bodies have been recovered there alone.
Source: dpa