Spain floods latest: New red alert as death toll passes 150 after Valencia flooding

An expat teacher living south of Valencia in Spain says he is unable to leave his town due to being “surrounded by water” following flash flooding in the region.

John Fahy, 55, who lives in a seaside town called Cullera, also reported there being no food in the supermarkets, with no new supplies expected for a while.

“The army was only sent in two, three hours ago, because now they’re finding more bodies in garages,” Mr Fahy, from Dublin, said.

“We can’t leave our town because it’s flooded all around. There’s no-one in the shops in Cullera because there’s no food and there won’t be for a while.”

There are a number of weather warnings in place in the areas hit by flash flooding – as well as more severe alerts in other parts of Spain.

In the province of Valencia – which saw the worst impacts of the flooding – there are several yellow and amber weather warnings in place. This means those most affected by the floods are expecting even more rain.

In the south west of the country a red weather alert has been put in place int the province of Huelva.

As Spanish rescue workers continue their search for those still missing in the worst flooding disaster the country has seen in modern history, here is what we know on Friday morning:

– The official death toll in now 158 – will 155 of those coming from the worst-hit province of Valencia.

– The death toll is expected to rise as an unkown number of people remain missing.

– Spain is in its second day of a three-day national mourning period. Flags are flying half mast across the country and a minute of silence was held on Thursday.

– Valencia has been declared a disaster zone.

As the shock dissipated, anger grew over the authorities’ handling of the crisis, both for their late warnings of the looming floods and the chaotic relief response.

Many survivors had to walk long distances in sticky mud to find food and water. Most of their cars had been destroyed and the mud, destruction and debris left by the storm made some roads unpassable. Some pushed shopping carts along sodden streets while others carried their children to keep them out of the muck.

Some 150,000 people in Valencia were without electricity on Wednesday, but roughly half had power by Thursday.

An unknown number did not have running water and were relying on whatever bottled water they could find.

The region remained partly isolated with several roads cut off and train lines interrupted, including the high-speed service to Madrid. Officials said it would take two to three weeks to repair that damaged line.

And with emergency personnel focused on recovering the dead, survivors were left to find basic supplies and clean up the mess. Volunteers joined locals in moving wrecked vehicles, removing junk and sweeping mud.

With local services clearly overwhelmed, Valencia regional President Carlos Mazon on Thursday asked if Spain’s army could assist with distributing basic goods to the population. The government in Madrid responded by promising to send in 500 more soldiers, more national police and Civil Guards.

The violent weather event has surprised regional government officials.

Spain’s national weather service said it rained more in eight hours in the Valencian town of Chiva than it had in the preceding 20 months.

A man wept as he showed a reporter from national broadcaster RTVE the shell of what was once the ground floor of his home in Catarroja, south of Valencia.

It looked as though a bomb had detonated inside, obliterating furniture and belongings, and stripping the paint off some walls.

In Paiporta, mayor Maribel Albalat said Thursday that at least 62 people had perished in the community of 25,000 next to Valencia city.

“(Paiporta) never has floods, we never have this kind of problem.

“And we found a lot of elderly people in the town centre,” Ms Albalat told RTVE.

“There were also a lot of people who came to get their cars out of their garages … it was a real trap.”‘

Prime minister Pedro Sanchez yesterday said the government’s priority was to find “victims and the missing” so that “we can help end the sufferings of their families”.

At least 158 people have died in the floods that washed the eastern coast of Spain this week. Dozens are still missing with officials racing against time to find them.

“We are searching house by house,” Angel Martinez, one of 1,000 soldiers helping with rescue efforts told Spain’s national radio RNE from the town of Utiel, where at least six people died.

Heavy rains continued as the Spanish weather agency issued more rain alerts for the southern coast of Valencia along with the Tarragona and Castellon regions.