Spain to deploy 10,000 more troops as death toll from devastating floods reaches 211

SPAIN IS DEPLOYING 10,000 more troops and police officers to the eastern Valencia region devastated by historic floods that have killed 211 people, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said today.

Hopes of finding survivors more than three days after torrents of muddy water submerged towns and wrecked infrastructure were slim in the European country’s deadliest such disaster in decades.

Almost all the deaths have been recorded in the eastern Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services personnel were frantically clearing debris and mud in the search for bodies.

Sanchez said in a televised address that the disaster was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century and announced a huge increase in the security forces for relief works.

The government had accepted the Valencia region leader’s request for 5,000 more troops and informed him of a further deployment of 5,000 police officers and civil guards, Sanchez said.

Spain was carrying out its largest deployment of army and security force personnel in peacetime, he added.

There are 1,200 troops already on site for search, rescue and logistics tasks.

Officials have said that dozens of people remain unaccounted for, but establishing a precise figure is difficult with phone and transport networks severely damaged.

On Friday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Cadena Ser radio station that 207 people had died and that it was “reasonable” to believe more fatalities would emerge.

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It is also hoped that the estimated number of missing people will fall once telephone and internet services are running again.

Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages, some of which have been cut off from food, water and power for days, is a priority.

Authorities have come under fire over the adequacy of warning systems before the floods, and some residents have also complained that the response to the disaster is too slow.

This morning, deputy head of the Valencia region Susana Camarero told journalists that essential supplies had been delivered “from day one” to all accessible settlements.

But it was “logical” that affected residents were asking for more, she added.

Authorities in Valencia have restricted access to roads for two days to allow emergency services to carry out search, rescue and logistics operations more effectively.

‘Overwhelmed’ by solidarity

On Friday, an army of volunteers armed with shovels, buckets, broomsticks, food and nappies mobilised to support victims in Valencia.

Thousands of citizens pushing shopping trolleys and carrying cleaning equipment took to the streets to help with the effort to clean up.

Camarero said some municipalities were “overwhelmed by the amount of solidarity and food” they had received.

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The surge of solidarity has continued today, as around 1,000 people set off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia towards nearby towns laid waste by the floods, an AFP journalist saw.

Authorities have urged them to stay at home to avoid congestion on the roads that would hamper the work of emergency services.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez this morning chaired a meeting of a crisis committee made up of top cabinet members and is due to address the country later.

Further rain is expected in the northeast of Spain today, with fears that it may hamper rescue efforts.

Parts of Valencia are under a Yellow alert for rainfall, while most of the Province of Castellón to the north of Valencia is under an Orange warning. Barcelona is also under a Yellow warning.

The storm that sparked the floods formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.

But scientists warn that climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.

With reporting from © AFP 2024

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