Monday, November 4, 2024 - The death toll from the massive flooding in Valencia, Spain, has reached 217, officials announced Sunday as the search for survivors and bodies continued in devastated cities and towns.
"The situation we are living in is tragic,"
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in Spanish during a televised
national address on Saturday, describing the discovery of bodies in garages,
homes, riverbanks and roads. "We are almost certainly talking about the
most serious flooding our continent has seen so far this century. And I am
aware that the response that is being given is not enough."
Sánchez said the government is sending 10,000 soldiers and
police to the eastern region of Valencia, about 200 miles east of Madrid, to
assist local authorities.
"We have activated the largest deployment, which has
already carried out 4,800 rescues and has helped more than 30,000 people in
flooded homes, roads and industrial estates," Sánchez said.
"Unfortunately, the magnitude of the catastrophe means that they are
insufficient."
The devastating flooding began last Tuesday amid heavy rain
in southeast Spain, quickly overtaking streets and trapping people in cars and
businesses. The Valencia region was inundated with the equivalent of a year's
worth of rainfall in just eight hours, according to the State Meteorological
Agency.
Carlos Mazon, the president of the Valencia
region, said in a statement in Spanish on Saturday that 69
municipalities across the entire region were either totally or partially
affected by the flooding.
"We have all seen fallen bridges, collapsed roads,
washed-out train tracks and the streets of our towns full of mud, cars and
furniture piled up," he said.
Amid questions over the government's response to the
catastrophe, he added, "We are going through the worst moment in our
history in our land. A moment of a magnitude that no one could imagine. We are
facing the challenge of our lives and together we are going to solve it."
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