Floods in the province of Valencia have caused several deaths. Dozens of people spent the night in trucks or cars, on the roofs of stores or gas stations.
The essentials
- This Wednesday, October 30, the situation in the province of Valencia, Spain, is critical. The floods that have occurred in recent hours have left at least 51 dead, according to the latest report, including at least four children, according to information from the Civil Guard. In Valencia, dozens of people had nowhere to go last night and spent the last hours in cars or trucks.
- Spaniards have also spent the night on the roofs of shops or gas stations, or found refuge on top of bridges, others are found stuck in their vehicles, on congested roads until they be rescued.
- The Valencia metropolitan area faced particularly intense rains, several main roads were closed, and most trains were unable to run. The storm is moving north this Wednesday, towards the province of Castellón. Six other people are still missing in the town of Letur, Albacete. The delegate of the central government in Castile-La Mancha, Milagros Tolon, announced last night that emergency services, supported by drones, were continuing to search for the missing.
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10:55 – Airport flooded, trains derailed or stopped due to torrential rain
The torrential rains which hit the south-east of Spain led to rising water levels and bridge failures and therefore flooding in various places. Valencia airport, for example, was completely flooded and a dozen planes due to land in the Spanish city had to be diverted, ten other flights were canceled.
The bad weather also had consequences on train traffic. A TGV derailed in the southern region of Andalusia with more than 270 people on board, but without causing injuries. The national railway company Adif also said it had suspended TGVs running between Madrid and Valencia due to the effects of the storm on the main axes of the rail network.
10:41 – Rain forecast until Thursday
The meteorological agency indicates in its last assessment that the bad weather linked to the depression which affected the Valencia region continues at least until Thursday October 31. Bad weather could move southwest into the Andalusia region and northeast into the Valencian Community and Catalonia. Orange vigilances, second strongest alert level, are activated for Wednesday, particularly in certain regions of Andalusia.
10:30 – One of the most “intense storms of the century”
The meteorological agency speaks of “historic” bad weather and is among the most “intense storms of the last century” with the episodes dating from October 1982 and November 1987.
In October of 2000 there was an episode of torrential rains, which had the highest volume of precipitation accumulated in the Valencian Community, but it was a very long time, of varying days, and less catastrophic than that of 1982, 1987 and 2024.
— AEMET_C. Valenciana (@AEMET_CValencia) October 30, 2024
10:25 – More than 400 mm of rain in a few hours in Valencia
Between 400 and 500 mm of rain fell in the Valencia region in just eight hours, late in the day and overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. The intense rains led to accumulations of between 150 and 180 mm of precipitation in just a few hours in some places, reports the Spanish meteorological agency.
09:57 – At least 51 dead in floods in Spain
The death toll from bad weather in southeastern Spain is rising. The Integrated Operational Coordination Center at the Spanish Interior Ministry says 51 deaths have been confirmed, all linked to flooding in Valencia province. “Since yesterday evening, the emergency plan has been activated and we can establish an assessment resulting from the information received from the various security and emergency organizations and forces. At present and provisionally, the number of deaths amounts to 51 people. The process of investigation and identification of victims begins,” the organization said.
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The central government activated an emergency plan and sent an army unit specializing in rescue operations to the Valencia region. “I am following with concern the reports of missing people and the damage caused by the storm in recent hours,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X. “Be very careful and avoid unnecessary travel,” he added .
“We are facing an unprecedented situation, which no one has ever seen before,” regretted the president of the region Carlos Mazon to the Spanish media. The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, indicated that 400 people, victims of these bad weather, had been taken care of.