SPAIN BEGIN THREE DAYS OF MOURNING AFTER HISTORIC FLOODS KILL 9

October 31, 2024

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Spain began three days of mourning on Thursday as rescuers armed with drones raced to locate survivors of the country’s worst floods in a generation, which killed 95 people.

Flags flew half-mast on government buildings around the country after a Mediterranean storm unleashed torrential rains and mudslides that washed away people, automobiles, and homes.

Emergency agencies, aided by more than 1,200 military men, searched mud-caked towns and villages Thursday for survivors and cleared highways of debris.

Government ministers have warned the toll is likely to rise with many people still missing and some areas remaining inaccessible to rescuers throughout Wednesday.

King Felipe VI warned that the emergency was “still not over”.

On Thursday, the national meteorological service AEMET issued a high alert for torrential rain in sections of the hardest-hit eastern Valencia province.

In the Valencia district of Sedavi, pensioner Francisco Puente battled to hold back tears amidst a sad scene of overturned automobiles and ruined streets.

“If you see it, you ask, ‘Am I seeing this?'” “What is this?” the 69-year-old asked AFP.

The death toll from flooding in Spain is the highest since 1973, when at least 150 people were killed in the southeastern regions of Granada, Murcia, and Almeria.