Alicante has been devastated by flash floods that swept cars through the streets, just days after flooding in Valencia killed 214 people.
New images and videos from this tourist spot, popular with British holidaymakers, show streets flooded by dirty rainwater that has fallen in recent days.
A video showed a man forced to swim away from his car after it was dragged under a bridge in Altea, Altea province. He could be seen swimming fully clothed towards a tree.
Another video showed water flowing rapidly down stairs in the city of Altea, getting faster and faster as it reached the bottom.
Alicante has been devastated by flash floods that swept cars through the streets, just days after floods in Valencia killed 214 people.
Alicante airport continues to send and receive passenger planes, although it has delayed dozens of flights, many of them from the United Kingdom.
It comes after the death toll from the Valencia floods rose to a terrifying 214, making them the deadliest floods in Spain’s history.
Dozens of people remain missing, as the country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanches said he would send 5,000 more army soldiers to help with searches and clearing, in addition to the 2,500 soldiers already deployed.
“It is the largest operation of the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime,” said Sánchez. “The government will mobilize all the necessary resources as long as they are necessary.”
Alicante airport continues to send and receive passenger planes, although it has delayed dozens of flights, many of them from the United Kingdom.
The streets have been completely submerged in water.
More flooding from Storm DANA has hit the coastal resort towns of Mazzaron and Agulias on the Costa Blanca
Valencian regional authorities said on Saturday night that the total number of fatalities in the region was 211, plus two in Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.
The tragedy is already the worst flood-related disaster in Europe since 1967, when at least 500 people died in Portugal.
In the Picanya suburb of Valencia, shop owner Emilia, 74, told Reuters on Saturday: “We feel abandoned, there are many people who need help.
‘It’s not just my house, it’s all the houses and we are throwing away furniture, we are throwing away everything.
‘When will help arrive to have refrigerators and washing machines? Because we can’t even wash clothes and we can’t even shower.’
A woman cleans thick mud, after flooding caused by heavy rain, in Sedavi, near Valencia, Spain, on November 3, 2024
The Spanish army begins work on cleanup after deadly flooding in the Valencian town of Paiporta, Spain, on November 3, 2024.
Nurse María José Gilabert, 52, who also lives in Picanya, said: “We are devastated because there is not much light here at the moment, not because they are not coming to help, they are coming from all over Spain.” but because it will be a long time before this area is habitable again.’
The storm caused a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where the rains are expected to continue over the weekend.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more common in Europe and elsewhere due to climate change.
Meteorologists believe that the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in increasing the intensity of heavy rain.
More to follow.
