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Thousands Join Effort to Clean Up Catastrophic Spanish Floods

Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
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Thousands Join Effort to Clean Up Catastrophic Spanish Floods

Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

An arts and science center which normally plays host to opera performances was on Saturday transformed into the nerve center for the clean-up operation after catastrophic floods in eastern Spain which have claimed at least 207 lives.
Volunteers went to Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences for the first coordinated clean-up organized by regional authorities, Reuters reported.
On Friday, the mass spontaneous arrival of volunteers complicated access for professional emergency workers to some areas, prompting authorities to devise a plan on how and where to deploy them.
Carlos Mazon, Valencian regional president posted on X on Friday: "Tomorrow, Saturday, at 7 in the morning, together with the Volunteer Platform, we will launch the volunteer center to better organize, (and) transport the help of those who are helping from the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia."
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to address the nation on Saturday morning.
In some of the worst-hit areas, people have resorted to looting because they have no food or water. Police said on Friday they had arrested 27 people for robbing shops and offices in the Valencia area.
More than 90% of the households in Valencia had regained power on Friday, utility Iberdrola said, though thousands still lacked electricity in cut-off areas that rescuers struggled to reach.
Some 2,000 soldiers were deployed to search for people who are still missing and help survivors of the storm, which triggered a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.
Officials said the death toll is likely to keep rising. It is already Spain's worst flood-related disaster in more than five decades and the deadliest to hit Europe since the 1970s.

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Spain Deploys 7,500 Troops to Flood Zone Where Anger Rises at Slow Help

A woman cleans thick mud, in the aftermath of floods caused by heavy rains, in Sedavi, near Valencia, Spain, November 3, 2024. (Reuters)
A woman cleans thick mud, in the aftermath of floods caused by heavy rains, in Sedavi, near Valencia, Spain, November 3, 2024. (Reuters)
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Spain Deploys 7,500 Troops to Flood Zone Where Anger Rises at Slow Help

A woman cleans thick mud, in the aftermath of floods caused by heavy rains, in Sedavi, near Valencia, Spain, November 3, 2024. (Reuters)
A woman cleans thick mud, in the aftermath of floods caused by heavy rains, in Sedavi, near Valencia, Spain, November 3, 2024. (Reuters)

Spain is deploying 7,500 troops to its eastern region hit by devastating floods, the government said on Monday in the face of rising discontent over the response to the catastrophe that has killed at least 217 people.

The army sent about 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clean up streets and protect shops and properties from looters. A further 2,500 would join them, Defense Minister Margarita Robles told state-owned radio RNE.

A warship carrying 104 marine infantry soldiers as well as trucks with food and water was approaching Valencia port even as a strong hailstorm pummeled Barcelona some 300 km (186 miles) to the north.

Rescue teams on Monday were searching for bodies in underground garages including a 5,000-car park at Bonaire shopping mall near Valencia airport as well as river mouths where currents may have deposited bodies.

Fatalities from Spain's worst flash floods in modern history edged higher to 217 on Sunday - almost all of them in the Valencia region and more than 60 in the suburb of Paiporta.

Local residents' anger was focused on late alerts from authorities about the dangers of flooding and a perceived delayed response by emergency services.

On Sunday, some residents in Paiporta slung mud at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and King Felipe and his wife Queen Letizia, chanting: "murderers, murderers!"

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said on Sunday the death toll had stabilized because all victims on the surface had been identified.

The torrential rains on Tuesday and Wednesday caused rivers to swell, engulfing streets and the ground floors of buildings, and sweeping away cars and pieces of masonry in tides of mud.

It was the worst flood-related disaster in Europe in five decades

Even though rainfalls have continued during the rest of the week, there has been no more major flooding in the area. The weather agency issued a warning on Monday morning for Barcelona as hailstorm and heavy rains hit Spain's second largest city.

Some of Sunday's protesters wore clothing with the symbols of far-right organizations that often stage protests against the leftist government. Robles said extremist groups were taking advantage of the situation for political gains.