Spain Races to Rescue Flood Victims as Death Toll Reaches 95

Sedaví (Spain): Spanish rescue teams worked frantically on Wednesday to save individuals trapped by rising floodwaters that have claimed at least 95 lives, overturned vehicles, and disrupted transportation across the country. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged citizens to remain alert as the threat continued, declaring three days of mourning for the deadliest floods Spain has experienced in over 50 years.

Since the start of the week, heavy rainfall and strong winds have battered Spain due to a storm system forming over the Mediterranean, resulting in some areas receiving nearly a year’s worth of rain within just a few hours.

The body coordinating emergency services in the eastern Valencia region reported a provisional death toll of 92, with efforts ongoing to recover and identify additional bodies. Two fatalities were also confirmed in Castilla-La Mancha, and another death was reported in Andalusia, as local leaders briefed journalists.

The toll is expected to rise, with government minister Angel Victor Torres warning of "many missing persons," as stated in an interview with public broadcaster TVE.

In Sedaví, a suburb of Valencia, streets were inundated with mud and piles of abandoned vehicles. AFP reporters witnessed stunned residents attempting to clean up the mess and using buckets to bail out water from their homes, facing a long night without electricity or running water.

In Ribarroja del Turia, on the outskirts of Valencia, town councillor Esther Gomez reported that workers were stranded overnight in an industrial estate, unable to be rescued as streams overflowed. "It has been a long time since something like this happened, and we're scared," she expressed to AFP.

According to Spain's weather service, AEMET, the town of Chiva, located west of Valencia, recorded an astonishing 491 mm of rain in just eight hours on Tuesday—almost equivalent to an entire year’s worth of precipitation.