At least 95 people have been killed after severe flash flooding occurred in Spain. Emergency responders are currently searching for dozens of individuals who are missing.
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92 people were killed in Valencia, per Angel Victor Torres, Spain’s minister of territorial policy and democratic memory. The other two deaths occurred in Castile-La-Mancha and Andalusia respectively.
Several areas received up to 12 inches of rain in just a few hours on Tuesday, October 29. It’s the worst rainfall in Valencia in 28 years, according to state weather agency AEMET.
At Least 95 Killed, Dozens Missing After ‘Unprecedented’ Flash Flooding in Spain
Emergency services in multiple cities are still searching for “dozens” of missing people. The president of Castile-La-Mancha’s regional government, Emiliano García-Page, compared the storm to a levee breaking.
“It’s not a rain pour, it was like a dam burst,” García-Page told Spain’s national broadcaster TVE. “People were calling [emergency numbers] crying, asking for help and it was almost impossible to reach them.”
Beatriz Garrote was driving home from work when she was caught by rising water. She spoke about her experience to El Pais, a Spanish newspaper.
“I went past the first exit, which was for Paiporta, but it was closed because they told us that the town was flooded there and we couldn’t exit,” she said, El Pais reported. She said her car then got stuck “and suddenly the two lanes closest to the exit started flooding.”
“After 10 minutes, it was halfway up the car’s wheel. One of the volunteers told us to turn the cars around but there was no possible exit.”