Another 500 troops sent to Valencia amid outrage over flood response

Another 500 troops have been deployed to the Valencia region as local authorities face criticism over their response to the catastrophic floods that have hit Spain in recent days.

It is understood that more than 200 people have died, most of which occurred in Valencia and its surrounding areas, but the death toll is expected to continue to rise.

Heavy rains that began on Monday triggered flooding that destroyed bridges, covered towns in mud, and cut off communities, cutting off water, food and electricity.

Thousands of people traveled from the city of Valencia to nearby rural areas to carry supplies and help with clean-up efforts, but authorities announced on Friday that traffic in the area would be restricted over the weekend to ensure emergency workers could get through.

Weather warnings remain in force in northeastern and southern Spain until Sunday, while another weather warning has been issued for the Balearic Islands on Saturday.

Some 1,700 soldiers are already conducting search-and-rescue operations in the Valencia region, although hopes of finding more survivors are growing dim.

Part of the focus is pumping water from underground tunnels and parking lots, where there are fears people will be trapped when water surges in.

Local authorities have faced criticism for responding too quickly and for lack of warning before flooding occurred.

Amparo Andres, who has owned her shop in Valencia for 40 years, told the BBC that the water in the building once reached her neck and she believed she was going to die.

“At least I’m alive, but I lost everything. My business, my home,” she said.

“The government is doing nothing. Only the young people around are helping us.”

“My life, my memories,” local resident Juan Perez said after returning home.

“My parents lived there. Now overnight, it’s all gone.”

The civil protection agency overseen by the regional government sent an emergency alert to the phones of people in the city of Valencia and surrounding areas just after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, by which time the floods had receded rapidly. Areas are on the rise, and in some cases have wreaked havoc.

Juan Gonzalez, who lives in the town of Aldaya, said the area is prone to flash flooding.

“It’s outrageous that our local government knew this was going to happen and did nothing,” he said.

In the hard-hit town of Piporta, where more than 60 people have died so far, residents have expressed frustration that help has been slow to arrive.

“There are not enough firefighters, the shovels haven’t arrived yet,” pharmacist Paco Clemente, 33, told AFP as he helped clear mud from a friend’s home.

Madrid’s federal government has also faced criticism for not mobilizing the military earlier and for rejecting an offer from the French government to send 200 firefighters to assist with search and rescue efforts.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez vowed to do everything possible to help those affected.

Valencia’s volunteer clean-up effort was largely organized by young people on social media, with groups of hundreds marching to areas worst affected by the floods.

Traffic will be restricted in the Valencia metropolitan area from 00:00 local time on Saturday until 23:59 local time on Sunday, the local government said on Friday.

Local infrastructure chief Martinez Muth said the move was to ensure emergency services had free use of the roads and to ensure supplies of water, energy, communications and food distribution.

Dozens of people were arrested for looting, and an Aldaya resident told AFP he saw thieves snatching items from abandoned supermarkets because “people were a little desperate”.

Southern regions including Huelva and Cartaya were also hit by heavy rains, with hundreds of families in the city of Jerez having to evacuate their homes.

One reason the flooding was so severe was the lack of rainfall for the rest of the year, which prevented the ground from effectively absorbing rainwater in many areas in the east and south.

The Chihua region near Valencia received as much rainfall in eight hours on Tuesday as normal for the entire year, according to national weather agency Aemet.

A warming climate may also be increasing the severity of flooding.

The World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international group of scientists who study the role of global warming in extreme weather, estimated in a preliminary report that rainfall was 12% higher than it would have been, and that the weather itself The amount of rainfall has also doubled.