Spain has been hit by the deadliest floods in decades. Here's what we know

CNN
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Spain is suffering its worst flooding in decades after a year's worth of rain fell on the country's southern and eastern regions in just a few hours this week.

The storm began on Tuesday and has so far killed at least 158 ​​people, including 155 in the hardest-hit Valencia region, Spanish Territorial Policy Minister Angel Víctor Torres said on Thursday, while dozens more are still missing.

The storm flooded cities and roads, caused rivers to burst their banks and left thousands without power or running water.

“There are dozens of missing people. We cannot confirm this number. “But it is clear that the more days that go by and they don’t show up, the more likely it is that we will no longer have any hope of finding them alive,” Torres added.

Valencia experienced its heaviest rainfall in 28 years. People were surprised and trapped in basements and lower floors of buildings.

Rescue workers are still fighting to save those trapped. Operations to recover bodies and clear debris are underway.

We know that.

Autumn rains are common in the eastern and southern regions of Spain, but this year's downpour was unprecedented. Most of the deaths occurred in Valencia, which lies on the Mediterranean coast and is home to more than 5 million people.

Flash flooding in the region, a tourist hotspot in the summer months, left rural villages underwater and main roads unusable overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

In the region's capital, the city of Valencia, a courthouse was converted into a makeshift morgue.

At least 40 people, six of them in a retirement home, died in the Valencian town of Paiporta, Spanish news agency EFE reported, citing its mayor.

Trains were suspended in Valencia, as were other essential public services in other affected regions. According to the local government, schools, museums and public libraries were closed until Thursday.

In Utiel, one of the worst-hit towns in the Valencia region, the suffering is palpable.

“My father is now 100 years old and cannot remember such a flood. It was terrifying to be here,” Jose Platero, a 69-year-old resident, told CNN. “We found him looking for personal items near his house.”

Like Platero, hundreds of residents were outside their homes on Thursday cleaning their entrances, searching for items that might have been swept away by the floodwaters or pulling out furniture and appliances that had become unusable.

On Avenida del Milagro in Utiel, residents work together to remove dirty water from their homes. Many of them use brooms to clean up the mess in their bedrooms and kitchens.

“I started putting towels on the door to keep water out. But suddenly the garage door popped open,” Carmen told CNN. “The scene was frightening as the mixture of water and mud began filling the kitchen with such force that it knocked over the refrigerator.”

“You’ve never seen this here before,” adds Ángel, another resident. He showed CNN the condition of his flooded home. “My finances are in ruins. If the insurance company doesn’t compensate us now, if they don’t take responsibility for the damage, we’ll end up in a very bad situation.”

Flooding was also reported in and around the cities of Murcia and Malaga, with more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rain falling in some areas. In Malaga, in the Andalusia region on Spain's southern coast, a 71-year-old Briton died of hypothermia, the city's mayor said.

Speaking to CNN, one traumatized survivor said the flooding left him feeling “powerless.”

“Within half an hour we lost almost everything… My wife had to carry my daughter in her arms when the water was almost up to her chest to escape to a hotel.”

In Valencia's La Torre neighborhood, where water rose to chest height, volunteers were on the streets Thursday trying to clean up.

Some residents expressed frustration to a CNN team at the scene, saying they received a warning from the government that flooding or even possible flooding was occurring only after it had already happened.

More than 1,000 military personnel are deployed to support rescue efforts, said Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles. Some areas can only be reached by helicopter.

Valencia regional director Carlos Mazon told reporters early Wednesday that bodies had been found as rescue teams began reaching areas previously cut off by the floods. On Thursday morning, rescue workers said they had reached all affected areas.

The Spanish government sent out emergency warnings on Tuesday urging people to stay indoors or seek higher ground. According to Spanish weather agency AEMET, extreme rainfall warnings have been introduced for some areas, including around Valencia. These warnings were for a possible rainfall of 200 mm (8 inches) in less than 12 hours.

In some places, rainfall estimates were exceeded in even shorter periods. According to the European Severe Weather Database, 320 mm of rain fell in Chiva, east of Valencia, in just over four hours. For the entire month of October, the average temperature in the Valencia region is 77 mm (3 inches).

However, many people were caught by surprise and it was too late to get to safety. Some took to social media to vent their frustration, claiming they received the emergency alert in the middle of the storm.

Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at Britain's University of Reading, said the high death toll suggested Spain's regional emergency warning system had failed.

“It is shocking to see so many people dying in floods in Europe, despite weather forecasters once again predicting extreme rainfall and issuing warnings. “The tragedy of people dying in cars and being swept away in the streets is entirely avoidable if people can be kept away from the rising tide,” Cloke told CNN.

“This suggests that the system for warning people about the dangers of flooding in Valencia has failed, with fatal consequences.” It is clear that people simply do not know what to do when faced with flooding are or hear warnings.”

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered support, promising that his government would do everything it could to help flood victims and urging people to remain vigilant.

The Spanish government has also ordered three days of official national mourning starting Thursday.

Thousands in the suburbs of Valencia were still without power or running water on Thursday as search operations and debris clearance continued.

The Spanish Securities and Emergency Agency has issued weather warnings for many regions. Orange and yellow alerts remained in place in isolated parts of Valencia, while rain continued in Castellón, a province to the north.

Extreme weather warnings remain in effect for parts of eastern and southern Spain and further rainfall is expected, according to AEMET.

The torrential rain was likely caused by what Spanish meteorologists call “gota fría,” or cold drops. This is a collection of cooler air high in the atmosphere that can break away from the jet stream, causing it to move slowly and often resulting in heavy precipitation. This phenomenon occurs most often in autumn.

Further analysis is needed to determine the exact role of climate change in the devastating floods in Spain. However, scientists are clear that global warming caused by fossil fuel pollution is making these types of extreme rainfall events more likely and intense.

Hotter oceans lead to stronger storms and the Mediterranean reached its highest temperature on record in August. Warmer air can also hold more moisture, soaking it up like a sponge to wring it out in the form of torrential rain.

“We can’t say anything spontaneously,” said Ernesto Rodríguez Camino, senior state meteorologist and member of the Spanish Meteorological Association. However, he added that “in the context of climate change, such intense and exceptionally rare rainfall events are becoming more frequent and intense and therefore more destructive.”

This week's floods are the deadliest Spain has suffered in decades.

In 1959, a flood in the Spanish town of Ribadelago killed 144 people. However, this disaster was not caused by a natural event, but by the failure of a dam that released water from the Vega de Tera reservoir.

The last comparable natural disaster occurred in 1996, when 87 people died in floods near the town of Biescas in the Pyrenees.

Although Spain has experienced severe autumn storms in recent years, nothing comes close to the devastation caused in recent days.

The disaster is on a similar scale to the floods in Germany and Belgium in 2021, which killed more than 230 people.