King Felipe and Queen Letizia to visit Valencia after floods kill 200 people as rescue missions continue in bid to find thousands who are still missing amid worst natural disaster in recent history
Spains King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are reportedly due to visit the Valencia region today, where devastating floods have killed more than 200 people.
Spains King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are reportedly due to visit the Valencia region today, where devastating floods have killed more than 200 people.
Hopes of finding survivors ebbed five days after torrents of muddy water wrecked towns and infrastructure in Spains worst such disaster in decades.
Almost all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.
Describing the worst natural disaster in the recent history of our country, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.
The government had accepted the Valencia region leaders request for 5,000 more troops and informed Sanchez of a further deployment of 5,000 police and civil guards, the premier said.
King Felipe VI of Spain during a minute of silence on October 31 for the victims of the Valencia disaster
Rescue teams search for missing people in a flooded residential car park in Picanya municipality, Valencia, on November 2 following the storm
King Felipe VI of Spain, Princess Sofia of Spain, Crown Princess Leonor of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain are pictured above days before the devastating floods
A volunteer cleans up a town square after flash floods in Paiporta, a town which was particularly affected by the floods
A police officer checking inside piled up vehicles for victims in the aftermath of the flooding on Saturday
Spain was carrying out its largest deployment of military and security force personnel in peacetime, he added.
Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages - some of which have been cut off from food, water and power since Tuesdays torrent - is a priority.
Authorities have come under fire over the warning systems before the floods, and some stricken residents have complained the response to the disaster is too slow.
I am aware the response is not enough, there are problems and severe shortages... towns buried by mud, desperate people searching for their relatives... we have to improve, Sanchez said.
In the ground-zero towns of Alfafar and Sedavi, reporters saw no soldiers while residents shovelled mud from their homes and firefighters pumped water from garages and tunnels.
Thank you to the people who have come to help us, to all of them, because from the authorities, nothing, a furious Estrella Caceres, 66, told AFP in Sedavi.
Authorities in the Valencia region have restricted access to roads for two days to allow emergency services to carry out search, rescue and logistics operations more effectively.
With telephone and transport networks severely damaged, establishing a precise figure of missing people is difficult.
Volunteers and residents clean the mud four days after flash floods swept away everything in their path in Paiporta, outskirts of Valencia
Rescuers continue to search for survivors with fears underwater car parks will be mass graves
Water streams down a stairs in a town in Majorca as the roads are submerged by high floodwaters
A view of the demolition works at a damaged house after flash floods in Letur, province of Albacete, Spain
People wearing PPE try to sweep away mud as they desperately clean up the streets
Food donations were made available to hard-hit residents in Valencia
Cars piled up in a ditch at a construction site after being swept off the road by powerful floods
Vehicles pile up in the streets caused by late Tuesday and early Wednesday storm that left hundreds dead or missing in Alfafar, Valencia
Sanchez said electricity had been restored to 94 percent of homes affected by power outages and that around half of the cut telephone lines had been repaired.
Some motorways have reopened but local and regional roads resembled a Swiss cheese, meaning certain places would probably remain inaccessible by land for weeks, Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais daily.
Ordinary citizens carrying food, water and cleaning equipment continued their grassroots initiative to assist the recovery on Saturday.
Around 1,000 set off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia towards nearby towns laid waste by the floods, an AFP journalist saw.
Theres nothing left, Mario Silvestre, a resident in the ruined town of Chiva, told AFP on seeing the damage.
Politicians promise a lot. Help will come when it comes, said the octogenarian.
Authorities have urged people to stay at home to avoid congestion on the roads that would hamper the work of emergency services.
Regional leader Carlos Mazon called the floods the worst moment in our history on Saturday and laid out a series of proposals to help his region recover, ranging from infrastructure to economic support.
He is due to visit flood-hit areas along with the royals and Sanchez on Sunday, Spanish news agency EFE reported.
The storm and flooding has left carnage in its wake, with a huge clean-up operation now underway
Thousands of people arrive at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias complex to volunteer in helping in the reconstruction and cleaning of towns affected by flash floods, in Valencia
A bulldozer is used to clear vehicles from streets in the town of Catarroja, in the region of Valencia
Civil Guard officers search for survivors inside cars trapped under the foundations of a building under construction in the town of Paiporta, Valencia
The official death toll stands at 211, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a press conference on Saturday morning
Officials expect the death toll to keep rising, with the disaster already Europes worst flood-related calamities since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal
A woman carries a shopping trolley through a flooded street in Manasa, province of Valencia
People walking through a muddy street in Alfafar, Valencia following the mega storm
Officers searching piled up cars in Alfafar for victims. Over 2,000 people are still missing following the severe flooding
The storm that sparked the floods on Tuesday formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.
But scientists warn climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.
Emergency services late Saturday issued an updated of toll of 213 people confirmed killed - 210 in the Valencia region, two in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia in the south.
Authorities have warned the toll could yet rise, as vehicles trapped in tunnels and underground car parks are cleared.
