Spain’s Valencia region emerged unscathed on Thursday after a night of intense rain, just two weeks after devastating floods in the area killed over 200 people. National weather agency AEMET downgraded the red warning initially issued for the eastern coast as the latest storm passed without further casualties.
“It was a difficult night with relentless rain,” said Jordi Mayor, mayor of Cullera, who described streets filled with debris and a civil protection centre flooded. Emergency crews have since been deployed to clear floodwaters and debris.
In response, regional authorities closed schools, universities, and adult daycare centres, and restricted road travel to essential vehicles in the worst-hit areas. AEMET issued an orange alert for parts of southern Andalusia and the Valencia coast, warning of up to 100 millimetres of rainfall over 12 hours.
The deadly October 29 floods in Valencia, which took 223 lives and caused massive infrastructure damage, remain Spain’s worst in decades. Cleanup efforts continue as the cost of the disaster is expected to reach tens of billions of euros.
