Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in one region alone.
More horrors emerged from the debris and ubiquitous layers of mud left by the walls of water that produced Spain's deadliest natural disaster in living memory, The Associated Press reported. Officials said Thursday that 155 people were killed by the floods in the hardest-hit region of Valencia.
The widespread damage recalled the aftermath of a hurricane or tsunami.
Cars were piled on one another like fallen dominoes, uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in Valencia.
An unknown number of people are still missing and more victims could be found.
“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” said Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente.
Rushing water turned narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that tore through homes and businesses, sweeping away cars, people and everything else in its path. The floods demolished bridges and left roads unrecognizable.
Regional authorities said late Wednesday it seemed no one was left stranded on rooftops or in cars in need of rescue after helicopters had saved some 70 people.
“Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so we can help end the suffering of their families,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said after meeting with regional officials and emergency services in Valencia on Thursday, the first of three official days of mourning.
While the most suffering was inflicted on municipalities near the city of Valencia, the storms unleashed their fury over huge swaths of the south and eastern coast of the Iberian peninsula. Two fatalities were reported in the neighboring Castilla La Mancha region and one in southern Andalusia.
The regional president for Castilla La Mancha, Emilion García-Page, said that at least one Guardia Civil police officer was among several missing people in the town of Letur.
Homes were left without water as far southwest as Malaga in Andalusia, where a high-speed train derailed on Tuesday night although none of the nearly 300 passengers were hurt.
Greenhouses and farms across southern Spain, known as Europe’s garden for its exported produce, were also ruined by heavy rains and flooding. The storms spawned a freak tornado in Valencia and a hail storm that punched holes in cars in Andalusia.
Heavy rains continued Thursday farther north as the Spanish weather agency issued a red alert for several counties in Castellón, in the eastern Valencia region, and for Tarragona in Catalonia. An orange alert was issued for southwest Cadiz.
“This storm front is still with us,” the prime minister said. “Stay home and heed the official recommendation and you will help save lives.”
