MADRID (AP) – Three days after devastating flash floods swept across towns in southern Valencia, eastern Spain, the initial shock has turned to anger, frustration, and a rising wave of solidarity.
Streets remain blocked by piles of abandoned vehicles and debris, trapping some residents in their homes. Many areas still lack electricity, running water, and stable phone connections.
Residents are using media to plead for help.
“This is a disaster. Many elderly people have no medicine, children lack food, and we’re out of milk and water. We have no access to anything,” said a resident of Alfafar, one of the hardest-hit towns in southern Valencia, to state television TVE. “No one even warned us on the first day.”
Authorities are also warning of more storms on the horizon. Spain’s weather agency has issued alerts for heavy rains in Tarragona, Catalonia, and parts of the Balearic Islands.
Meanwhile, flood survivors and volunteers are facing the monumental task of clearing a thick layer of dense mud left behind by the deluge.
In towns like Paiporta, where at least 62 people lost their lives, and Catarroja, residents have been walking miles to Valencia for supplies, passing neighbors from unaffected areas who carry water, essentials, or shovels to aid in the cleanup.
Juan Ramón Adsuara, the mayor of hard-hit Alfafar, described the aid efforts as vastly inadequate for those trapped in an “extreme situation.”
“There are people living with corpses at home. It’s very sad. We are organizing ourselves, but we are running out of everything,” he said to reporters. “We drive vans to Valencia, buy supplies, and come back, but here we are totally forgotten.”
The flash floods transformed narrow streets into death traps, turning homes and businesses into uninhabitable ruins.
Social media has become a lifeline, helping to connect those in need with those offering assistance. Some have shared images of missing loved ones in search of news, while initiatives like *Suport Mutu* (Mutual Support) link help requests to volunteers, and others have organized nationwide collections of essentials and fundraising campaigns.
While Spain’s Mediterranean coast often sees autumn storms, this flood is the most intense in recent memory. Scientists have connected its severity to climate change, which has also increased temperatures and droughts in Spain and heated the Mediterranean Sea.
A preliminary study by World Weather Attribution, an international group of scientists, found that human-caused climate change has doubled the likelihood of storms as severe as this week’s. Spain’s nearly two-year drought worsened the impact, as parched soil could not absorb the sudden rainfall.
The devastation recalls the deadly flood of August 1996, which swept away a campsite along the Gállego River in Biescas, claiming 87 lives.