Spain initiated three days of mourning on Thursday as rescue teams equipped with drones hurried to locate survivors from the country’s most devastating flood which killed 95 people.
Flags were lowered to half-mast on government buildings across the nation following a Mediterranean storm that unleashed heavy rains and torrents of muddy water, sweeping away individuals, vehicles, and homes.
Emergency services, supported by over 1,200 military personnel, searched through mud-covered towns and villages on Thursday to find those missing and clear debris from the roads.
Government officials warned that the death toll is expected to increase, as many people remain unaccounted for and some regions continue to be inaccessible for rescuers throughout Wednesday.
King Felipe VI warned that the emergency was “still not over”.
The National Weather Service AEMET issued the highest alert level for heavy rainfall in certain areas of the severely affected eastern Valencia region on Thursday. In the Valencia suburb of Sedavi, elderly resident Francisco Puente fought back tears while surrounded by a bleak landscape of overturned vehicles and ruined roads.
“If you see it, you say: ‘Am I seeing this? What is this?’” the 69-year-old told AFP.
The number of deaths is the highest from flooding in Spain since 1973, when it was estimated that at least 150 individuals lost their lives in the southeastern regions of Granada, Murcia, and Almeria.